Final Fantasy 2
by LilithArtist
Summary: After losing her adopted parents to an army from Palamecia, Telma and her friends join the Wild Rose rebellion to fight for freedom. But in the midst of this, she has to determine her emotions toward Firion and face peculiar people who claim to have known her before, even though she doesn't remember.
1. Chapter 1: Wild Rose

**Hello everyone! Lilith here!**

**And if you've entered this spot, you're probably going "Now wait a minute, Lilith! Do you anything about Final Fantasy 2? What possessed you to write a fanfic of it if you haven't played the game?! Tell me, tell me!"**

**Well, I just wanted to try something different, and if someone were to ask my opinion, I think FF2 needs more love among the lovers of the Final Fantasy franchise. But in order to figure out how I could work this out, I had to ask the advice of another fanfic writer.**

**Edit: I added a little extra stuff within the first chapter, just for the heck of it.**

**Anyways, without further ado, enjoy!**

**Just for a reminder, I'll take constructive reviews. Rude comments are not welcome.**

**I own nothing of FF2 except for my OCs.**

**Read, leave me a review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Wild Rose

_A long lived peace…is at an end._

_The emperor of Palamecia has called forth monsters from the underworld…and has begun his campaign for world conquest._

_A rebel army arose in the Kingdom of Fynn to thwart the emperor's plans._

_But the rebels' castle fell to an all-out assault by the empire._

_Left with little choice, the rebels withdrew to the remote town of Altair._

_Five youths from Fynn also found themselves fleeing the imperial forces._

_They had lost their parents at the hands of the empire._

_But their escape wasn't over…_

* * *

"C'mon, we have to get out of here!"

"Black soldiers coming. Hurry!"

"Wait for us, Firion! Telma's not as fast as you two!"

"Maria, stop worrying about me and keep running! Don't lose sight of them!"

In the midst of the blazing fires raging within what was once a quiet little town, four young civilians made mad sprints throughout the burning streets with utmost urgency. At the lead is Firion, a young man at 18 with tanned brown skin and silvery hair kept in a ponytail; because of the crisis at hand, he was dressed lightly and only carried a short sword and knives on him for defense. Following closely behind is Guy, about the same age as Firion but taller and bulkier than the rest of the group. Maria is a young woman of 16 with pale skin and shoulder-length royal purple hair, lightly dressed in simple clothes (nothing too special). The last one trailing them is Telma, a woman of 17, having braided dark-brown hair and brown eyes, her only clothes being a regular dress and short boots.

Behind them, numbers of dark-armored soldiers marched through the town whilst unfazed by the flames consuming all in its way and the wood and bricks falling apart from the irreparable damages done; but the coordination of the army moving its way was most unnatural, as though none of them were human to begin with.

Just as they were about to reach the gates leading outside, a yelp forced them to stop and turn to find that Maria had just tripped and fallen down. Three dark knights were closing in on her, ready to take advantage of the chance to kill

"Maria!" Telma cried out as she hurried over to help. A surge of magic energy flowed through her hand as she shot out shards of ice. "Get away from her, you demons!"

Though the ice shards were deflected or broken apart with ease, this gave her just a few precious seconds to pull Maria to her feet and try to urge her on. But the knights were closing in, about to strike them down at any moment – or at least, one of them would be if one saving grace hadn't arrived in the nick of time.

A clang of a thick sword could be heard as another man showed up and knocked the dark warrior off his feet, buying him enough time to gather the stragglers.

"Leon!" Maria couldn't help feeling a little relief amongst the tension.

Leon, the elder brother of Maria, was the eldest of the family at the age of 20 with lightly tanned skin and violet-purple hair; unlike the rest of them, he did have a small bit of armor for available defense alongside the rest of attire.

"Telma, Maria, get going! These freaks aren't going to wait," Leon ordered.

Guy caught up with the girls and ushered them through the gates, moving past Firion as he threw his knives in an attempt to help fend off the fiends for just a few moments before all of them turned back to run for the woods outside the town. The crackle of the flames and the faint screams of horror of the people trapped in the chaos echoed across the empty wilderness, warning the outside of the evil that has begun to roam through the countryside…

* * *

She couldn't believe that this had to happen to her. As she continued to run alongside her close friends, Telma had trouble comprehending why Fynn had to be attacked by monsters and ruthless soldiers whose lack of mercy knows no bounds.

As far as her memory went, Fynn pretty much became her home ever since she was discovered alone and unconscious; actually, it was one of her newfound friends, Firion, who found her outside of the town and brought her to his adopted home. From there, she met his friends Guy, Maria, and Leon. Maria and Leon are blood siblings and have been very close for years; Guy, on the other hand, used to live in the wilds until Firion found him and brought him into the family. Even her rescuer had a little story of his own; he lost his real parents when he was young, so he was raised alongside the two blood siblings and became a new family. Unfortunately, when asked about who she was and where she came from, Telma was unable to remember anything except for her name. Ultimately, no one could find out where she was from, so she was legally adopted and has lived with this unusual family ever since…until now.

But now that their home has been ravaged by an outside kingdom, where will they go? What will they do to get by? And who can help them during these dark days?

There was no time to answer those questions because the imperial forces were still gaining on them, and they had to keep moving even though they're exhausted. Sadly, they were soon surrounded and had nowhere to run.

"Damn it! It looks like we'll have to fight through!"

Telma turned toward Leon (who pretty much spilled out that slip up), seeing his violet hair dampened by sweat from running for so long, and a sword in his hands. Then, she looked over to Maria and Guy, who were also tired and unable to keep moving yet still trying to be strong. But when she looked over to Firion, their gaze met and she could see how scared he was as well as how determined he was to keep his loved ones safe.

"I know you don't want to, but we have to make a stand, Telma," he gasped as he brushed his forehead.

"Why did I have the feeling you'd say that, Firion?" she murmured glumly.

Unfortunately, they were unable to fight their way out; Leon and Guy already went down in a blink of an eye, followed by Maria when she tried to take her shot with a bow. When one soldier charged toward her, Telma had to watch as Firion got in front and took the critical blow in her stead, but she still was harshly cut down from behind (though not as bad as everyone else).

The last thing she could remember were a few voices saying things she could barely make out, and then seeing a female figure moving towards them before blacking out…

* * *

_"…__fully healed?"_

_"__Yeah…should be alright about now."_

When Telma slowly opened her eyes, she felt herself squinting at the light within the new environment, unable to determine where she is now. And who is with her right now? One voice sounded familiar, but the other wasn't. Her vision gradually cleared until she could finally see a worried sick Maria hovering by her side along with a tan-skinned, green-eyed, and light blonde haired woman who doesn't really ring a bell to her.

The woman was dressed in a short white top with trousers of the same color, held at the waist by a silver girdle, and wore leather gauntlets on both of her arms and leather boots; on her head she wore a golden circlet and a light blue facial veil over the lower half of her face.

"Telma, you're alright!" Maria exclaimed as she squeezed her tightly.

Hilariously, Telma couldn't help but let out a grunt before she replied, "Yeah…you too, Maria." But then a thought hit her. "Wait! Where's Guy, and where's Firion?"

"Calm down, will you? The big boy – Guy, if I recall – is in top shape now. And your light-haired friend – Firion, is it? – is in my brother's care. He should be up on his feet about now, I'd think," the mystery woman replied with an exasperated sigh, "But if you're that worried about him, I'll bring you to him if you want."

That perked her up a little. "Are you serious? I'd feel a lot better if I knew he's fine. Thanks, Miss…umm…I didn't get your name."

The woman shook her head with a smile as she stood up. "It's Mingzhu. Come on, I'll bring you over."

With Maria's help, Telma stood up and both women followed Mingzhu through the hall until they had located Guy, who was waiting for them very patiently. Though it was still a bit weird to see the tall, hulking young man among every other person, those who know him best remember that he's actually very friendly (well, once you got to know him, that is).

"Hey, Guy. You are doing alright?" Telma had to ask.

Guy simply turned to her and replied, "Princess of Fynn save us. White witch heal you."

Mingzhu groaned at this in annoyance. "I told him three times that I'm a white **mage**, not a **witch**. There's a difference."

Maria sighed at that. "It's okay. He's not a very good speaker. You'll get used to it once you're familiar with him."

"Yeah, I can justify that," Telma chuckled.

With that settled, they continued to walk down the hall until they had neared what Mingzhu called a sanctum, where the survivors were told that Firion is being healed there. However, by the time they got there, the three friends were surprised to find that he is already up and moving, obviously confused and in search for what he's missing the most. But as soon as he saw them, Telma could see a relieved smile spread across his face, and it couldn't be helped that he ran over in joy to see them all alive; then again, they couldn't resist either.

Maria was the first to cry out, "Firion! You're alive! I thought…I thought you'd…"

"We practically feared the worst!" Telma added.

"I'm fine, Maria, Telma," Firion reassured them before turning to Guy. "You alright too, Guy? But wait…where's Leon?"

That was when it finally hit her: she had completely forgotten about Leon! Unfortunately, the downcast looks on Maria and Guy spoke for themselves; Leon was not with them. If that's the case, then where is he?

"Princess of Fynn save us," Guy told him, "But…Leon not here."

Telma nearly expected Firion to be depressed about the fact that Leon's not with him, but instead she saw him give a soft smile that hid what he was really thinking.

"I see…Don't worry. I'm sure he's okay," he promised gently.

_You're just as worried as we are, and you can't hide that_, Telma thought.

"Well, I don't quite understand what's going on here, but if you're all ready to go, I'll take you all to meet the princess and my brother," Mingzhu suggested, "Besides, I'm sure they'll want to see you alive and kicking. They're probably in the meeting right about now. C'mon, follow me."

As they followed the white mage to the meeting room, Telma suddenly felt a hand to her shoulder, making her turn her head to see Firion give her a relieved smile.

"Did I worry you, Telma?" he whispered softly.

"You'd bet you made me worry," Telma replied quietly, "I was afraid that I'd lost you and everyone else, and that Maria and I are going to be alone."

"It'll be alright, Telma. Maybe whoever the princess is might be able to help us," Firion pointed out, "But what did our guide mean by 'brother'?"

"That's we're gonna find out, I guess," Telma answered.

When they arrived at the meeting room, the four friends found themselves a bit out of place with the different people already hanging around. There were several men discussing matters that they don't understand, but the main individuals that stood out for them were a royally dressed woman and a young man who looked awfully similar to the other healer with a few notable differences.

The young woman appeared to be in her very early twenties, with wavy golden blonde hair bearing two frontal braids and blue eyes. Her wardrobe consisted of a sleeveless pastel blue dress decorated in geometric shapes with a sky blue scarf held by a violet brooch at the waist, a royal blue cloak attached at the back, and indigo bracelets on her arms, completed by an intricate pair of sandals. On her head was a blue headdress bearing four different horns and carefully strung beaded ornaments in her hair, adding to the regal beauty.

On the other hand, the young man next to the royal woman was very similar to Mingzhu, what with the tanned skin, but the major difference being his hair color and eye color are both brown. His wardrobe consisted of a white top covered by a small bronze chest plate and white skirt held by a gold-trimmed red belt; he also came equipped with a white cloak held by a ruby brooch, a white turban on his head, and a white mask covering his mouth for whatever reason. He could also be seen wearing a silver bracelet and ring on one arm, but it's everything else that is the main focus.

But then, the young woman gave the party a welcoming smile before speaking to them, lightening the tense atmosphere.

"So you've regained your strength? Very good," she said calmly, "Your life force is strong indeed."

"It was you who saved us, wasn't it? Thank you," Firion asked as he bowed politely, "Forgive me, your Highness, but there is something I must ask of you. Please allow us to join the rebel army!"

But the woman shook her head in disapproval. "I could never let you do such a thing. You know nothing of battle. You would only be throwing your lives away. You should return to your homes."

"But…we have no homes. Not anymore…" Maria interjected sadly. "The imperials attacked, and our parents…Our parents…"

"They're dead," Telma added in a low voice.

The instant the woman heard both ladies explain the situation, however difficult it was she showed a sign of shock and sympathy for a few seconds before returning to her level-headed demeanor.

"I am truly sorry, but even so, this changes nothing. I cannot permit you to join our army," the woman replied.

"Oh, c'mon, isn't there something you _can_ do for these poor souls, Hilda?" Mingzhu interjected, "As far as I'm concerned, they have nowhere to go and no home. What are they gonna do on their own without any help?"

"Sister!" the young man scolded.

But Hilda raised her hand to stop him, and contemplated on the question for a moment, before a small idea did come to her.

"If you've nowhere else to go, you're welcome to stay in Altair. If you know our password, you should be able to live here well enough," Hilda suggested, "The password is Wild Rose. Remember it well."

Upon hearing the password, the four friends took a moment to wrap their heads around the word they've been taught. But then, Telma had to ask about this because she wasn't exactly familiar with such a peculiar word.

"You might think me nuts for asking, Hilda – you're a princess, is that right? - but what is the wild rose?" she asked out of curiosity, "Is there some kind of significance to this flower in question?"

"The wild rose is the insignia of the Kingdom of Fynn," Princess Hilda replied without being offended, "It represents our hope for a future that flourishes in both strength and beauty. But what will become of Fynn now?" At this point, the princess looked a little under the weather as she seemed to be thinking back. "I've heard that the empire's captives have been taken there and suffer as we speak." Then, she looked up to Maria. "Maria, your brother Leon is missing, is he not? It's possible that he's being held in Fynn as well." She shook her head at this. "But Fynn is far too dangerous now. The emperor's beasts still stalk the streets. Gaining entrance to the city will not be easy…"

_Who is the emperor?_ Telma couldn't help but wonder about that. _Why does that sound like something I should be familiar with?_ But she immediately shrugged it off, thinking it as unimportant right now, and focused on the meeting at hand.

"The man at my right is Minwu, the white wizard who tended your wounds," Hilda continued when she began introductions, "The woman with you right now is his younger sister Mingzhu, who also aided in healing all of you. Speak with them before you leave. They may be of assistance to you."

"Thank you, your Highness," Firion simply answered.

Although he did seem content with what had to be offered, it was pretty clear that he really wanted to fight for freedom; even Telma knew this. Fortunately, at the very least, they were able to have other people to talk to, added bonus being two people who aid the princess in the cause they can call friends. Speaking of which, who would've guessed that there would be siblings that work for the rebellion?

"Is it right that you and Mingzhu are brother and sister?" Maria had to ask out of personal curiosity.

"That is true. I apologize if my younger sister didn't give away any details, she is not one for making use of etiquette all that much," Minwu replied honestly.

"Hey, watch it, Brother!" Mingzhu warned irritably.

"Well, I'm willing to take any help that's offered, even if it comes from a pair of siblings who we've just met only a few minutes ago," Telma intervened, "However, what I would like to know is what on earth is going on with this country these days. Don't get me wrong, we know what happened to Fynn because we were there, but I don't understand what the issue with these imperials is."

Both white mages looked over to Firion and friends in confusion as they never imagined meeting a single individual who doesn't even know what the situation is. Maria and Guy simply shrugged their shoulders which said 'don't ask us about that'; uncertain as to how they can explain the situation. That meant Firion had to come up with something that wouldn't arouse any suspicion on their adopted friend.

"Telma is just having trouble processing the information, that's all," he explained.

Mingzhu shrugged at that. "Fair enough, I guess. I guess someone's going to have to give you a crash course on the matter. Long story short, an evil empire led by an equally evil emperor is conquering every kingdom in the country, and we are trying to fight against the bad guys."

"That being said, you might as well rest here while you can," Minwu added in, "All of you have been through much danger, and it would be best if you saved your strength. The princess means to keep you safe as much as possible, you understand."

"We understand," was all Firion could say.

"Then I guess we'll just be on our way," Telma agreed reluctantly.

As the four friends left the meeting room, it seemed like they had accepted the fact that they weren't going to be able to do anything anytime soon; that is, until they were far enough in the halls and Firion suddenly stopped in his tracks with a thought in mind. He immediately turned around to them, but with a determined gaze rather than compliance.

"We have to go to Fynn. We have to know what happened to Leon," he said with a fiery determination, "He's out there somewhere, and I know he's alive. Telma, Maria, Guy, are you all willing to return to our old home with me?"

Telma gave a big grin as she flipped her braided brown hair back. "Do you seriously need to ask? I want to know what went on there, and besides, if we don't do something to help, who will? So, what are we waiting for? Let's get some proper gear on, some weapons, and let's get the show on the road!"

However, just as they were about to move on, a small 'ahem' was heard behind them, making them turn around to see Mingzhu standing there with her arms folded and tapping her foot.

"So, you're just going to gallop off to dangerous territory, just like that?" she asked sternly, "I'm not one to complain, but who's gonna make sure you stay alive?" Then, she gave a big grin. "If you're going out there, then I'd better get you to the armory right away."

Whether it was a lucky strike or not, the party hadn't the foggiest clue what gave them the help they needed; but all the same, they were very glad that someone understands their plight and their intentions.

* * *

Thanks to Mingzhu's guidance to the armory, she was able to help them get properly equipped for the journey ahead, each one fitted for the right purposes one way or another.

Telma fit herself into a sleeveless cerulean blue split dress and an embroidered short black jacket, with purple ring trousers and knee length black laced boots; on her left hand, she wore a single brown leather glove, and on her right is a golden moonstone bracelet (the only treasure she held onto ever since she lived with her adopted family, even though she had no idea where she originally got it).

Firion geared up in a light brown armor plate and shin guards over lightly tan clothing, with armored boots and faded yellow shoulder pads and lavender gauntlets; he had a blue bandanna wrapped around his head (which made some of his silvery hair stick out, on a sillier note), a sword belt around his waist, and an elegant red cape.

Guy simply wore a teal armor plate over his chest with metal gauntlets on his arms, along with violet pants and indigo boots trimmed with small leg guards attached near the knees, and a belt around his waist.

Maria wore a purple top that appeared to be nearly completely cut off on one side, leaving the left side to be covered by a partial breastplate held together by thin straps, and complemented by matching purple pants with a maroon sash held around her hips; on her feet she wore violet high-heeled boots, and her arms are protected by cloth gauntlets.

When Telma looked at Maria's outfit, she couldn't help but question why she was dressed like that.

"Wow, what are you trying to do, guard yourself or attract a guy?" she asked.

Maria blushed heavily at that. "Telma…! I'm not trying to!"

Thankfully, Guy stepped in to ease her. "Telma…teasing you. No worry."

"Well, then, if you're all good, we just have one more stop before we go off," Mingzhu announced.

"What's our last stop, Firion?" Telma asked.

"I guess we're going to find out," he replied with a shrug.


	2. Chapter 2: Journey to Fynn

**And thus the adventure begins. And I gotta say: HiddenXEmotion, I am so grateful that you are pleased with how I started the story. It means a whole lot to me because I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested. And I'm glad you like the OCs I've presented so far; I wanted to spice things up. **

**Enjoy!**

**I own nothing of FF2 except for my OCs.**

**Read, review, no flames.**

Chapter 2: The Journey to Fynn

When they stepped out of the rebels' hideout, the four friends were greeted by daylight and the sight of a town surrounding them; none other than the town of Altair. It was similar to that of Fynn, but at the same time, it was a completely different environment than they were used to. There were civilians doing their best to maintain regular routine even in the midst of war, and there were some rebels keeping watch for any signs of evil running amok or anything that dares to threaten the haven.

"It's not much, but it's home…sort of," Mingzhu commented unexpectedly.

"So, what's our last stop before we go?" Telma asked.

"You'll see," she replied, "In fact, he should be here about now."

Right on cue, a young man in about his late twenties made his appearance upon hearing his name being called. The stranger's skin was very tanned (but not to the same extent as Firion) and his hair was a straw blond color; his attire consisted of a knee-length sandy-colored tunic trimmed with red at the hem, a belt holding a short sword at its holster, and a small armor plate on his chest, complete with thick leather boots and metal braces around his wrists, and a purple cape tied together.

"Hey there! I'm Paul, greatest thief in all the world! They've yet to invent the loot I can't burgle or steal," the man announced boldly, "The imperial coffers have kept my purse fat with gil already."

"Are you with the Wild Rose?" Firion asked bluntly.

Paul laughed at this. "I never steal from the rebels, you can be sure of that. My home was in Fynn, too…" He frowned when he thought back a bit. "I can't even go home now that the empire has occupied the city."

"I guess that means you're on the same boat as us," Telma speculated.

"Yeah, you're right on that, miss. But we're not here to get all sentimental, are we? What can I help y'all with ?" Paul asked with another laugh.

"For starters, these fellows need the means to fight back," Mingzhu explained, "We're heading off to Fynn. You got anything good they can use, besides the usual gil you pilfer every time an imperial goon strays off?"

"Sure, just give me one second," he replied.

He turned around to search by the loot he had acquired throughout his thieving career until he found some useful weapons among his stash. For Firion, he was given a broadsword made of steel; Guy was offered up an iron axe which he could carry as easily as he can use; Maria took a sturdy bow as a weapon of choice; on Telma's part, she instinctively grabbed the staff for her use.

"Why pick a staff, Telma? Why not use a sword or something?" Maria questioned.

"…Admittedly, I don't know. The staff was the first thing I lay my hands on," Telma replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sure you have your reasons for doing so. After all, it's most likely a personal preference, isn't that right?" Firion pointed out.

Telma nodded in agreement, but in her head she thought, _"But I wish I knew why I would pick such a thing…"_

"Well, then, if you guys are all set, let's get the show on the road!" Mingzhu announced eagerly.

As they left the town, the four couldn't help but wonder how on earth this white mage is even related to Minwu, or even a biological sister for that matter; and does her eagerness to join the journey sound even stranger?

"If anyone finds out what we've done, what do we do from there?" Telma couldn't help but ask.

"Well, if anyone questions why we disobeyed and brought Mingzhu with us, we'll think of something that won't give off a negative impression," Firion reassured her, "After all, it is our friend we're worried about. There must be a chance that Leon is alive, and we have to confirm that with our own eyes."

* * *

Of course, travelling to Fynn was far from easy, and that was something the travelling party learned very quickly. Every once in a while; they would have their fair share of encounters with petty goblins and hornets in the woods and other pathetic little creatures that roam along the road to their destination. Fortunately, along the way, they made a stop at the village of Gatrea to rest up for the rest of the trip. The people that live there were very hospitable and more than willing to help them any way they could; not to mention, the innkeeper had enough room for them to sleep.

As soon as they were well enough to leave, they continued on their trek to Fynn. But as they came closer to the place, hordes of plant-like monsters called Leg Eaters blocked the path to their intended destination along with a few goblins lending a hand (or two) on the intruders. Naturally, Firion and Guy were the first to charge in since they were more of the physical fighters than the women were; speaking of which, anytime one of the Leg Eaters attempted to come close, Maria managed to pull off impressive bulls-eyes on the monsters' heads with little effort, and whenever the boys were in a pinch, Mingzhu's healing abilities proved to be extremely useful. But just when it seemed like they're about to have an opening, one Leg Eater sprinted toward Telma as though it perceived her to be the weakest link. Everyone nearly made a move to save their friend from danger, but something startling occurred before their eyes.

Almost unknowingly, Telma held her staff ahead of her and murmured an incantation for a moment until a surge of magical energy formed into a fireball, which subsequently shot forward and burned the monster till it was reduced to nothing but ashes. After that, she immediately noticed that everyone else was seriously dumbstruck at what just happened.

"Hey…what are you staring at me for?" Telma asked with a tint of discomfort.

"What was THAT just now?!" Mingzhu asked back with shock.

"I don't know! I don't even know how I did it…" Telma replied shakily, "It just…I just somehow did it."

"Whatever that was, it helped get rid of the monster," Firion pointed out, "We can keep going to Fynn. I can even see the town from just past the walls." When everyone else's attention was diverted by the sight of their intended searching ground, he approached Telma carefully and nudged into following him. "It'll be alright, Telma. I may not know how you were able to cast a spell like that, but if I could surmise a guess, maybe it's something from your lost memory that managed to come out when you were in danger."

"I'll take your word for it, but I'm still not too sure about it. I mean, you realize that the people who rescued us will eventually get suspicious, and what are the odds that if I keep questioning everything that's happening and about the people involved, the suspicions will turn towards me?" Telma asked with an uneasy tone in her voice.

"If anybody does question about you, we'll figure out what to do about it. Until that moment occurs, we don't have to worry about it," he reassured her.

With that settled, they hurried closer to Fynn…only to be greeted by remains of what was once a peaceful town. To make the matter even worse, there were imperial soldiers all over the place, scouting out the entire area; that, and there was no sign of civilians anywhere – either dead, imprisoned, or have escaped to unknown parts.

"Oh, no…" Maria whispered as she looked on at the ruins.

"It's just as we've heard. The city is crawling with imperial soldiers," Firion admitted when he saw the invaders moving about. "We have to be careful, make sure not to get too close."

"When the kingdom of Fynn was attacked, a prince named Scott stayed behind in order to buy the princess time to escape," Mingzhu pointed out, "We never knew what became of him after that. If we can't find your friend, then we can definitely look for the prince."

Telma turned to the white mage with her own suspicion. "Is that the reason you tagged along with us, Mingzhu? Because you were looking for somebody important, and think that person might be alive?"

"Well…that's part of the reason, yeah. But I did also want to know what the aftermath of the invasion was," she replied with a hint of shame, "In all honesty, I've hated those imperial bastards since day one of their conquest campaigns. All this happened so fast, and I want to know what the hell made those guys decide to ruin other kingdoms. Seriously, what did we ever do to them? We did **nothing** to them."

"Whatever the case, let's take a look around the city, and see if we can find anyone who can help us," Firion suggested, "Surely there must be someone who would know the whereabouts of those we're looking for."

With the utmost caution on their minds, the five comrades stealthily moved through the ruined city in search of Leon or the prince, but could find nobody among the ruins and would only encounter sightings of more soldiers prowling around the streets. As a result, they had to move around the walls of the town to stay out of sight. But then, some noises drew in their attention coming from a pub not far.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Telma wondered.

"If there are more of those imperials in there and we get caught, we're done for," Maria feared.

"We'd better take a look and find out what's up," Mingzhu advised, "but also be on our guard."

"My thoughts exactly," Firion agreed on that.

Carefully, they approached the door to the pub and opened it as slowly as they could. However, when they peeked inside, they found several imperial soldiers there, but not in a way they were expecting: many of the soldiers were passed out drunk on the tables, while a few were snoozing away like they had a long day (but no doubt were also far too drunk to know what's going on around them). While it was a hilarious sight to see, the five fellows knew that they had to go inside and investigate the place. Fortunately, Telma immediately noticed that one person was still in the bar, doing his best to clean the dirty mugs on the counter.

"So there's one man still around here. Let's try talking to him and find out what he knows," she said as she moved right in.

"Telma, is that wise?" Mingzhu questioned skeptically.

"We won't know until we try," Firion replied as he walked in as well, "If we ask, we might have knowledge on where your prince could be hiding."

That caught the white mage's attention. "Okay…you got a point there. You win this time."

Guy simply walked in and followed Telma and Firion's actions, and Maria followed closely behind them as they snuck through the sleeping men towards the counter.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going? Customers aren't allowed behind the counter!" the bartender protested as soon as they were spotted. "These imperials are as ill-bred as they come…"

"Wild Rose…" Guy interrupted softly.

The bartender looked over at Guy in confusion as he said that word, but then quickly caught on what that was all about.

"Aha! You're with the rebels!" the bartender exclaimed quietly, "You'll find a secret door in this wall. There's a wounded soldier back there. Go see if you can help him."

"Was that soldier called Scott, by any chance?" Mingzhu abruptly asked.

"Uh…yeah, he was. But anyway, I've had it with this place. You guys can take it from here. Don't let us down!" the bartender said as he hurried out the door and left the pub.

Baffled by all of that, they couldn't help but wonder what on earth the bartender went through to make him want to leave the place so badly. Whether it was ill-treatment or something else entirely, they'll never know.

"So, it's true…He might be alive," Mingzhu said with hope until her brows furrowed in dread, "But…why do I have the feeling that he won't last?"

"If he's dying, then we have to meet him and see if we can help him," Firion answered, "But we'd better hurry. He might know something about the invasion of our home."

"You're probably right about that," Maria agreed, "Whatever that poor soul knows would help us out in the long run. Maybe not find my brother, but maybe something to do with the enemies that took him from us."

"Not to mention, what information we get could help the princess in her cause," Telma added, "Who knows? Maybe she'll be more generous if we learn more about our adversaries."

"Then we'd better get moving, before those drunkards realize that we've intruded on their conquered territory," Firion agreed on both accounts.

With more caution than usual, they opened the door within the wall of the bar and slipped inside without drawing in any attention whatsoever and travelled down the stairs to a hidden room out of the view of nosy trespassers. Sure enough, they found a blonde-haired young man lying down in a bed, barely alive but very pale and on the brink of death. But as they closed in to take a look, they saw the poor man struggling to maintain a defiant appearance, most likely suspecting them as enemies; but really, who could blame him?

"Are you…going to turn me over to the empire?" he asked defiantly, "At least have the decency to kill me first. I don't…want them to take me alive."

"Stop that, Scott. We're not the enemy," Mingzhu stopped him, "C'mon, you remember me, don't you?"

Scott, upon seeing Mingzhu hovering over him, immediately recognized her. "You're…Minwu's sister. But…then who are they?"

"We're with the Wild Rose," Maria answered, "We're with the rebellion against the empire."

The term 'Wild Rose' instantly got his attention. "So…you're rebel soldiers…are you? My name is Scott. I am a prince of Kashuan."

"Prince Scott?" Firion questioned. "We were told you fell in the battle. Thank goodness you're still alive, as Mingzhu had hoped!"

Scott nodded sadly. "I am, but not...for much longer. I'm afraid I must ask…a favor of you. There's something you must...tell my brother, Gordon. Tell him I know he has…great strength. He must…learn to have more faith in…in himself." He took a labored breath before he continued. "I also have a message for the king. Tell him that the reason Fynn…Fynn fell so quickly is that…Count Borghen betrayed us. He's been made a…a general in the imperial army." He paused. "There is one more thing. Tell Hilda…Tell Hilda that I love her…" But he quickly stopped himself and changed his mind. "No. No, don't deliver that…that last message. The confessions of a dying man…They would only bring her pain."

Then, Maria walked over to him and asked nervously, "My…my brother, Leon. Have you heard of him?"

Sadly, Scott shook his head 'no'. "I'm sorry…but I have not. I wish I could be of more help."

Maria's head lowered in depression, much hope for her brother almost completely lost. However, Guy put his hand on her shoulder in comfort, making the poor girl look up and give a small smile of thanks.

Then, it was Telma's turn to ask him something she never thought she would. "Pardon me, Scott. But…about those imperials that are here…is there anyone in charge of the place?"

"No…but…There is a general of Palamecian heritage scouting the city," Scott replied, "I don't…know who he is, but…but he is apparently searching for something. What it is, I do not know. What I do know…is that…is that he won't stop until he has found whatever it was he lost."

"A general…searching for something…" she wondered quietly.

Without warning, she felt something being placed her hand, making her look at the dying prince, who had just reached his hand to her.

"Here. I want you to…to take my ring," he requested in a shaky voice, "It may be of some use." His labored breathing grew even worse. "Maybe it's all this talking, but…I've grown extremely tired. If you'll excuse me, I…I just need to rest. Just for a little while…"

Unfortunately, Scott drew his last breath and he passed on. An eerie silence filled the room as they looked on at the fallen prince. Telma used her right hand to move his back in place while she opened up her gloved hand to find a beautiful ring resting in the middle of her palm. _So this is the ring he was talking about,_ she thought.

On Mingzhu's part, she struggled to keep her tears from falling out as she walked over and pulled the bed sheet over Scott's head in grief.

"After all that, we were too late…" she choked.

"But at least we did learn a few things while he was still able to talk," Firion pointed out, "We know the reason why Fynn fell to the imperial army as it did, and that he knew the princess. However, I think it would be best if we don't tell her his…personal confession."

"And he didn't know anything about Leon, that's for sure," Maria added.

"Actually, there is something else; too," Telma said abruptly, "Scott told me that there's someone in the imperial army...a general who is looking for something who I can only guess is precious to him. I'll never know how the prince got that information, but I could only speculate that the, erm, former bartender must've told him what goes on while he was hidden down below."

"Now that we know what we're up against, we might as well head back to Altair," Mingzhu said with urgency, "Besides, the princess…she'll need to know about Scott's fate."

"You're right about that. But you do know that you'll have to explain to your brother as well, don't you?" Firion agreed as he reminded her about her actions, "Regardless, we'd better hurry out of here before anyone knows that we've been here."

Fortunately for them, getting out of the pub was an easy feat since the soldiers there were still out cold and drunk. However, when they did enter the city again, they were about to head toward the square in order to reach the entrance to Fynn but were rapidly stopped when faint voices were heard from a distance.

"Someone coming," Guy warned tensely.

"Everyone get behind the building, quick!" Firion ordered quietly.

Hurriedly, everyone ducked behind one of the nearest buildings and carefully watched as one soldier and an aged man in dark armor made an appearance in the middle of the square.

The aged man appeared to be approaching his mid-fifties, evident by his shoulder-length hair being nearly completely gray and the sign of wrinkles on his face; but what was also noticed was that he also had dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he must've not gotten enough sleep for some reason. He wore purely black armor from the waist up with royal purple trousers, fitted with black leather boots and black armor leggings on his feet and dark brown gauntlets on his arms.

"Are you certain that you searched all over the city?" the aged man asked, "Are you sure that your squad hasn't found her yet?"

"Positive, General Tristan. We've searched everywhere in Fynn, but we've found no trace of your missing daughter," the soldier replied.

The aged general, Tristan, sighed in frustration at the news. "I see…Well, then, inform your comrades across the country to search the other regions. And have your own men keep looking for any traces of her, and not cease their mission until she's confirmed to be alive. If you have to, hire trackers and bounty hunters. You've already been informed about her appearance, so you know how to find her, don't you?"

The soldier saluted his general. "Yes, we know what must be done, sir!"

"Good. You're dismissed for now."

When the soldier left to alert the troops, the general was the only person in the square. Firion, Telma and the others watched as he looked around the place until he pulled out a gold pendant from his pouch, staring at a carved portrait held behind transparent crystal.

"My dear child, where are you?" he murmured sadly.

"General! We found something in one of the ruined homes. You'd best come look, sir."

Tristan turned to where the call was coming from, and walked away from the square to investigate what was the matter. Once he was gone, though, the five peeked out of their hiding place to make sure the coast was clear.

"It looks like he's gone for now," Mingzhu sighed in relief.

"So that's the general? He looks like he's had one too many restless nights," Maria pointed out, "But what was talking about earlier? Does he have a birth child who went missing for some reason?"

"I'm not sure what that man is really after, but if he's the general of the imperial army, then it'd be best if we don't face him yet," Firion replied, "Chances are, he's possibly stronger than all of us and could take us out in one strike if he wanted to. We'd better get out of here as fast as we can while they're distracted."

"I'm with you on that, Firion. If we want to get back to Altair, we'd best hurry," Telma agreed.

Taking advantage of the diverted attention of the imperial soldiers, the five comrades quickly rushed through the abandoned streets and fled past the gate to the woods.


	3. Chapter 3: Joining the Cause

**Well...this was long overdue. I had a very hard time figuring out how to get further and still make it as interesting as possible. But after a lot of turmoil and distractions by my KH fanfic, I pulled through. And, if I was to have a shred of honesty, I'd thought I'd do a perspective on the enemy side of the spectrum, but there's no guarantee that I'll do this often. I hope you understand. That being said, enjoy!**

**I own nothing of Final Fantasy 2 except for my OCs.**

**Read, review, but no flames allowed here.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Joining the Cause

Fortunately for them, they didn't run into too much trouble when they left for Altair posthaste, aside from the occasional little creatures that tried to hinder their progress. Though it was a bit tiring on the way, they were still able to make it back to the town just in time to get some well-earned rest.

Or, at least they would be, if not for the fact that the moment they returned to the hideout, they were greeted by a disapproving Minwu. Telma almost assumed that all of them were about to get into trouble for investigating Fynn, but then she noticed how his right index finger was tapping with a 'care to explain yourself' expression, and the fact that his gaze was focused very heavily somewhere else. When she did turn around to look toward everyone else, she found Mingzhu with a face that screamed 'I'm busted' and she was shaking like a cornered mouse. Her friends also noticed this, and couldn't help but quietly admit that this was bound to happen.

"Sister…would you care to tell me what you were doing when my back was turned?" Minwu asked sternly.

"Oh, c'mon, if I have to give an explanation, I was just trying to help them find what they were looking for!" Mingzhu replied in annoyance, "And in my defense, they were going to search Fynn themselves. I just decided to tag along and make sure that they come back in one piece, that's all."

Minwu sighed deeply and shook his head in disbelief. "Sometimes, even I wonder how on earth you are my sister…"

"Actually, she was of great help to us. Without her, we wouldn't have acquired the information we needed while in Fynn," Firion intervened, "And we…we do have important to discuss with the princess, especially about…" He faltered a moment. "…about Prince Scott."

"We also have more information about the imperials – not too much, but still we have a little more knowledge," Telma added.

That caught the white mage's attention. "Ah…so you did find something after all. Very well…I'll overlook Mingzhu's reckless actions this once, considering she did keep an eye on all of you and helped you along the way. As for what you've acquired, we'd best meet with the princess right away."

Without any more trouble, everyone followed Minwu to the meeting room where the princess was expecting them. Sure enough, she, too, held a gaze that suspected she knew what they had done without permission; however, it wasn't as harsh as Minwu's toward his younger sister. In fact, they weren't sure if Hilda was going to call them out or something like that…unless there was something else on her mind.

"So the four of you travelled to Fynn, regardless of the danger I told you about," Hilda said with a firm voice, "and allowed Mingzhu to accompany you to that place? You understand that what you've done was reckless."

"We're sorry, your highness, but we had to investigate our former town," Maria apologized.

Guy said nothing, but he did look away as though he didn't know how to explain their actions.

"Actually, Princess Hilda, when we got there, we did find out what we needed to know," Firion explained, "and I think there is something you need to see."

Right on cue, Telma reached into her jacket's hidden pocket and held out the ring on the palm of her hand. The instant the princess saw the beautifully crafted piece of jewelry; Hilda was able to identify what it was.

"That ring belonged to Scott!" Hilda gasped in shock, "Is he…is he alive?"

"He gave us this ring in Fynn…just before he lost the last of his strength," Telma replied somberly.

The princess covered her mouth to keep herself from crying and asked, "Did he…did he say anything?"

Firion shook his head. "No…nothing. I am sorry." He paused a moment. "Your highness…the ring belongs to you."

But Hilda shook her head and declined. "No. Keep it. It suits men of courage."

"If I may, Princess Hilda, let me tell you what we've found out while we were in the remains of Fynn," Mingzhu spoke up when she was certain her leader was ready, "Turns out, the reason the kingdom fell so easily was because one guy called Borghen turned traitor and joined the empire. Not to mention, we've got ourselves an actual general from Palamecia scouting out the place. What for, I didn't catch, really."

Minwu frowned as he heard this. "That does explain the tragedy of Fynn. A coward with a selfish mind would think about betraying his native land."

Hilda nodded in agreement as she stood to speak with Firion and friends. "You infiltrated Fynn and returned to tell the tale. You've proven yourselves quite capable." She paused. "It would seem I underestimated your strength. I would have you lend that strength to our cause."

The four friends turned to each other in surprise, unable to believe that the princess was actually willing to let them join the rebels and help fight back against the empire. Although they were new to this sort of thing, they were relieved to know that they will be able to aid with those who meant to reclaim what rightfully belonged to them.

"Are you serious? Are we really doing this? Is this a joke?" Maria asked, confounded by the declaration.

"Does the princess look like the joking type?" Mingzhu asked sarcastically, "You should count yourselves lucky that you've accomplished something rather than getting into trouble."

Minwu sighed and shook his head in displeasure at her remarks, but Hilda quietly reassured him that it was alright before she gave the four their objective.

"There is a magical metal known as mythril, and we need strong warriors if we are to obtain it," Hilda explained, "We lost Fynn because we were ill-equipped. The empire fought with weapons and armor made out of mythril."

Telma couldn't help but ask, "What is mythril? Is it some kind of useful material or something along that line? I don't think I've heard about it."

Unfortunately, her question made her friends afraid that suspicions would increase on her; thankfully, though, the princess and the white wizard didn't catch on what was up. Instead, the princess quietly asked Minwu to explain to her, which he was more than willing to do.

"To simplify the matter, mythril is a metal that is responsive to magic, and is one of those minerals that can used for magical armaments," Minwu explained to her, "It is a very strong metal, but also easy to process in the smiths."

Once she was able to process this, Telma replied, "Okay. Makes sense to me."

"I have charged Josef, a man living in Salamand, with the task of finding a source of mythril," Hilda continued, "I do not know the cause, but we've been out of contact with him for some time now. Would you go with Minwu to Salamand to look into this?"

"Of course, Princess" Firion agreed willingly, "We'll gladly do that."

"Which means," Minwu directed his gaze over to his sister, "that you will be remaining here with her highness for a little while."

Mingzhu was absolutely horrified at where her brother was going with his words. "**WHAT?!** Is this your way of punishing me even further for tagging along? If that's the case, then that was completely uncalled for!"

"I do not want to counter your excuses, but I'm afraid I must inform you that you went with them without telling us where you were going," Minwu pointed out, "On top of that, you practically encouraged them to venture into Fynn. Though I am glad that you did make sure they survived, I cannot excuse your brazen actions and impulsive choices. That is why you are staying here with Princess Hilda until you are needed, so you'd best behave yourself while we're away. Am I clear?"

Mingzhu opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to come up with some form of protest, but ultimately her words failed to take form. Reluctantly, she hung her head in mortification and nodded in agreement before she left the meeting room in a huff.

When all that was going on, Firion and Telma couldn't help but feel bad for her because she had a good reason to join them long enough for the trip to Fynn, but they had to agree that she did make the mistake of not informing the people she was close to about her intentions. Perhaps she didn't deserve to be punished too harshly, but at the same time, they were certain that Mingzhu did – in a manner of speaking – have it coming.

When it seemed that the tense air cleared, Firion turned to Minwu and had to ask, "Is your sister always like this? How did she get into the service of the princess?"

Minwu sighed deeply as he replied, "Brilliant in white magic, though she may be, Mingzhu was anything but a patient sister. She used to be known for being a troublemaker, even when she had no intent on being one. It wasn't until I came into the service of the princess that it was possible to straighten her out as much as possible." He paused a moment. "Do not misunderstand my punishment on her. I am grateful that she did help you four, but I am disappointed by her brazen actions. My sister has to learn to think about the consequences of any choice or action she intends to do, and to put the lives of others into careful consideration."

"We understand your reasons, sir, but you needn't be too hard on her," Maria answered in understanding, "I mean, we did defy the princess's wishes as well."

"That aside, do you have any idea as to how we are to reach Salamand?" Firion asked whilst changing the subject.

"To reach Salamand, we must first pass through the port town of Paloom. We'll be taking a canoe and be on our way first thing in the morning," Minwu replied.

As the rest of the group personally discussed the matter of their route to their newest destination, Telma had other matters puzzling her mind. In fact, her thoughts steered back to Fynn when she and her friends saw General Tristan from afar, and how he was asking if his – if she heard that correctly – daughter was found within the ruins of the fallen kingdom. She couldn't help but question what on earth brought the aged general into the nightmare of war when he is on the side of the people that killed anybody that stood in their way of conquest. It was one thing to hear about traitors that would join an enemy in cowardice, but the idea that a normal person (if she could call that man normal) is among the ranks of those monsters was something she couldn't understand.

The moment she felt a touch, Telma snapped out of her thoughts and turned to see Princess Hilda standing there with her hand on her shoulder. It made her question how she got there without her knowing; either that, or she just wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

"Is something bothering you?" the princess asked in concern, "Did something happen while you and your friends were in Fynn?"

"Actually…yeah, there was something. I might sound crazy to ask, but…" Telma hesitated for a moment before continuing. "But do you know anything about an imperial general called Tristan? Is he someone you're familiar with?"

Hilda was silent for a moment, like she's trying to figure out how to answer the question, before she replied, "To my knowledge, Tristan is a knight from Palamecia – and one of the strongest and finest in existence. Anyone who knows him recalls his ruthless battle prowess, but just as he is powerful on the battlefield, he is also known to be one of the most honorable. In fact, he is infamous for his – and I quote this – preferences on opponents of choice. If I remember right, he always chooses to fight opponents that are equal to or stronger than him, but has a reputation of leaving the weaker adversaries alone. Why he does that is beyond me." She paused. "What brought this on?"

"While we were in Fynn, we overheard him talking to one of his soldiers," Telma replied, "and from what we could see – and hear – he has been searching for clues as to where his daughter could be. We last saw him leaving to some part of the city because something had been found that required his attention."

"Clues to where his daughter could be?" Hilda repeated, "There was mention about that as well. Rumors say that he had one child – a daughter, I believe you brought up. But they say she disappeared from her native home, and no one knows her whereabouts. Since then, it's said that the general has been relentlessly searching for her with the intent of bringing her home safe and alive."

Those words certainly made a thought come into Telma's mind: is it possible that this missing child was the cause of the war? Anything could make a person want to attack every existing kingdom, so it only makes sense that someone would have the gall to engage in conquest like that…or start a war for that matter. But then that meant the missing child would have to be held into account for being the cause, as harsh as that might sound.

However, as she considered that possibility, suddenly an unexpected question came into mind: does she even know that missing daughter? If that is so, where?

* * *

As he trudged his way down to the dungeons of the castle, Tristan gazed in contemplation at the portrait that had been found within one of the ruined homes of the conquered city. In the portrait were three young men and two women; though he didn't know who two of the men and that young woman are, he did have a vague idea on who the purple-haired young man is since he is one of the additional prisoners kept down there. But the main thing he kept his eye on was the young woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes seated right in front of the four. There was no doubt in his mind that she was there, and alive. But where is she now?

That was the question he wanted answered, and he thought that the best way to get the information is to ask the newest prisoner about her. What was his name again? Leon? That sounded about right. The only thing he had to worry about is whether or not this Leon is still alive, and whether he would be willing to talk.

When he reached the dankest region of the dungeons, he could easily smell the sick moisture hanging around the place along with the scent of either burned flesh or blood the further he went in. According to his emperor, that's where the new prisoner is being held, and is currently being kept under strict watch.

One of the guards saw him coming, and tensed up in respect. "General, what are you doing down here?"

"I'm here to visit the new prisoner. Let me see him," Tristan commanded with intense authority, "I have questions to ask of him, and it has to do with…" He paused to lean in close to the guard on watch and whispered. "…with what has been found in the rubble that is Fynn."

The guard abruptly turned to look at the general with stunned eyes. "So it's true?!"

Tristan immediately raised a finger with a stern 'hush' gaze, forcing the guard to lower his volume in order to not arouse suspicion.

Then, the guard whispered anxiously, "Is it really true, General? There's a chance that her ladyship is still alive?"

"There's no doubt in my mind that she might still be alive. My men are still investigating Fynn as we speak, and will be searching for more clues," Tristan replied, "I have reason to believe that she was there, and I am certain that our prisoner might know something about her. I just have to pry that information out of him. Now will you let me through? I will see that you receive a reward to compensate for my disruption of your duties."

"Alright, then, go right in."

As the cell door was being unlocked and opened, Tristan grabbed the nearest torch out of habit because even though a few cells were lit in the farthest parts of the dungeon, he never liked the idea of not seeing his captives fully face-to-face when he is doing his interrogations. Only a sadistic or unnecessarily evil military man would take pleasure in giving prisoners a scare by leaving them under the pathetic protection of the dim light.

What light was available showed him the beaten form of the purple-haired young man, chained to the wall wearing mostly rags and worn-out leather boots. The old general could easily tell that he went through so much torture since there are so many scars from both the whip lashes and scratches of knives used by the dungeon wardens. It certainly reminded him of himself in his younger years, when he had to endure torture just to prove his worth in the service of the royal family; but such things, as far as Tristan was concerned, was all in the past.

"Are you still alive, Leon?" he asked calmly.

Leon slowly lifted his head up to stare at the general with a weary look, and squinted for a moment due to the lighting of the torch. But it could be seen that there is still a glimmer of fighting spirit in that young man, something that would certainly intrigue his emperor if reported.

"What do you want? Are you…here to finish me off?" Leon asked hoarsely with a hint of irritation.

"No. I do not take advantage of the weakest links of mankind, unlike other people I know within this land," Tristan replied as he pulled out the encased portrait, "The reason I am here is because I want to ask you some questions, and, no, they have nothing to do with the war going on or anything of that sort."

Leon stared suspiciously at him. "What are you after?"

That was just the moment of truth he was expecting – and planned for – to happen. Tristan carefully turned the picture towards Leon, showing him what he had found. When he did, he watched as the young man's eyes widened in shock for just a few seconds before they narrowed sharply at the general with a questioning expression.

"…Where'd you get that?" Leon asked with a growl.

"One of my soldiers discovered it inside a ruined home within Fynn, and as we speak, is still searching for other possible clues to unanswered questions," Tristan replied coolly as he held the portrait delicately in his hands, "But if I know you, you want me to spare you of the suspense and cut to the chase. So answer this…" He pointed his finger to the image of the young lady at the front of the picture. "…Do you know this girl?"

"…Why should I tell you?" Leon asked, not willing to talk.

Tristan eyed the young man for a moment, wondering what he could be hiding, but then decided to tell him what he needed to know. "Listen, lad. I am searching for someone precious to me. I have – or, dare I say this – had a daughter and she was the only family I have left. She…she ran away from home, and disappeared to gods knows where. I've been searching for her since then." He paused for a moment. "Tell me, what did the girl you know call herself?"

At first, the young man refused to answer him, not wanting to think about the possible fates that befell the people he knew and loved.

The general noticed this, and tried again asking, "What was the name of the girl in the picture?"

Leon said nothing for a good while, but then he reluctantly replied, "…Telma. Her name was Telma."

"Well, well, that can't be a coincidence, could it, General Tristan?" a young, smooth masculine voice said with intrigue, "Wasn't that your precious daughter's name?"

Upon recognizing that voice, Tristan immediately turned around to find that he wasn't alone in the cell; his master – the emperor - had made his appearance.

The emperor appeared to be in his late twenties, with platinum blond hair that slightly spiked out on his head while the extra lengths flowed down far past his back. His head was adorned with multiple types of gemstones, along with a purple crown depicting a serpent with horns attached to it (which gives off a bit of intimidation); he wore golden armor with purple robes underneath, with black and white stripes tracing the rib area and demonic faces embellishing certain places on his armor, and his gauntlets had claws set where his fingers would be. Not to mention he sported purple makeup on his eyes and lips (which is rather unsettling to see, especially on a man).

"Y…Your majesty! I didn't hear you coming…" Tristan stuttered nervously as he bowed in respect.

"You may dispense with the formalities, Tristan. You were in the middle of an interrogation, weren't you? As unlike you as it may be, considering how you normally do not come down to this dismal place, it would be intriguing to know what you've learned," the emperor replied in a darkly nonchalant manner, "Now then, there was mention of the name Telma, was there not? Find out what this persistent insect knows, and we'll decide whether or not he can be of use to us. Who knows? He might be the key to seeking the missing link to Palamecia."

Tristan nodded in agreement, and turned back to Leon in order to continue his business. But the prisoner apparently knew what was coming.

"You…what do want to know about her?" he demanded lowly. "Your men struck Telma down. Who'd know whether…she's alive?"

The aged general narrowed his eyes like he's had enough beating around the bush, and leaned in to face the chained individual at eye level.

"I am a poor soul trying to find his only child, hoping to bring her home where she belongs. Do you want to know what her name was? Her name was Telma," Tristan explained with a warning tone that said 'watch what you say or I might do something I'd regret'. "You say that you know a young woman under the name of Telma, no? Perhaps the Telma you know and the Telma I know are look-alikes, or maybe they are one and the same. So, here's the deal: do you want to live? Do you want to gain something with your life? If my emperor is willing, you can join our pursuit and aid us in our conquest. Perhaps you can help me, too. You know the young woman, is that right? If she's found, then maybe you could help me identify her and confirm what leads I've acquired. Who knows? If you do well – and dare I admit this out loud, much better than that hideous pig that joined our ranks – perhaps whatever you desire can be earned. That's something you cannot refuse, now can you?"

The emperor chuckled evilly when he heard all this. "You see? This is why Tristan is one of my best commanders, unlike the worms I know. He knows how to bring out the hidden depths of a man, to remind them of the ideals of using any means necessary to reach the top. Unless you wish to die, I'd choose wisely."

For a good long while, there was an eerie silence throughout the cell. Tristan continued to watch the prisoner relentlessly as he waited for an answer, while the emperor simply looked on at the tense scene with anticipation at what the outcome will be. After such long, quiet standoff between them, the general watched as Leon took a breath and gave off a stare that showed a spark of fire that desired to live and fight another day.

"…Very well. What do you want me to do?" Leon answered at last.

The emperor, satisfied by that answer, turned to Tristan and said, "There, you see? He knows what the best choice is."

Tristan nodded in agreement, pulled out a key to unlock the chains holding Leon's wrists, and released the young man from his bonds.

"Then we'd best get to work so that you're fit to join the group," he said as he helped Leon off the floor.


	4. Chapter 4: Preparation and Gordon

**If this chapter was a bit short, my apologies. I had a lot of trouble finding a way to keep it going, and I really wanted to introduce the younger prince who has self-esteem issues. But it'll get more interesting later, that I promise.**

**I own nothing of Final Fantasy 2 except for my OCs.**

**Read, review, no flames.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Preparation and Gordon

Firion suddenly jolted awake and abruptly sat up while letting out a gasp of breath, only to find that dawn had not yet arrived and his friends were still asleep. That was when he realized that he never had woken up before dawn in a long time, but after experiencing the loss of their hometown and subsequently witnessing the violence all around them, he had to slip back into that habit once again. However, it didn't feel the same since they lost their parents because of the empire and have no knowledge as to Leon's whereabouts.

But then, as he was thinking things over, one little thought began to press intensely on his conscience: the matter of their friend, Telma. Ever since they were brought in to Altair, they all have done everything in their power to keep their close friend's personal problems under wraps so as to not have anyone raise any questions on her. After all, only the people they used to know were aware of Telma's memory issues, but since they're gone, it fell to them to guard her secret. Even so, Firion wished he did know more about her than what they've experienced with her; but they can do nothing about that for now, so they might have to wait and see what can be done later.

"You okay, Firion?"

Startled by the soft, whispering voice, he turned to see Telma seated next to him and rubbing her hand on his arm soothingly. It made him blush madly at the idea that she must've somehow noticed the position he is now.

"I…N-no, not really…It's just…I don't know what came over me," Firion stammered nervously, "I can't remember the last time I woke up before dawn. It felt like…forever."

Telma frowned a bit, as though she wasn't buying it. "C'mon, Firion, that's not the only thing bothering you, I know it. What are you really thinking about? You can tell me anything about whatever is bothering you should you ever be troubled by something personal."

Her frown alone was able to sway him into talking. "I…I'm sorry, Telma. It's just that so much has happened, and…well…" He faltered for a moment, needing to get his thoughts together and get to the point. "Telma, has anyone gotten suspicious of you asking many questions about numerous things?"

"Well, not to my knowledge, no. I mean, when I asked about the mythril, at least Minwu answered it without even questioning me," Telma replied, "And when I asked the princess who that Tristan guy was, she explained what she knew about him and didn't bother prying further." When she noticed how stunned he was, she gave him a friendly smack to the cheek. "C'mon, Firion, don't worry about it. If anyone does start questioning about me, you'll know what to do about it – you and Maria and Guy."

He couldn't help but smile at this and reply, "Alright, if you insist on not worrying about it. I'm sorry if I caused you any worry."

"I told you, don't worry about it. Just take it easy, alright?" Telma reassured him as she moved closer to him.

After a little while, Telma returned to her sleep but didn't bother going back to her bed. But Firion remained awake for a bit as he thought back on all that has happened thus far, especially with the events in Fynn: a memory of seeing the general, Tristan, kept playing in his mind over and over as he wondered what that man was doing with the enemy. Also, did he hear right that the man was looking for someone precious to him? He heard that it was his birth daughter he was seeking in the ruins of the city, but why bother to look there? What was he really after? He couldn't answer those questions as he succumbed to sleep again, contemplating what awaits them when morning arrives again…

* * *

When dawn had arrived, the four were greeted by Minwu, who had come to inform them it was time to prepare to depart for Salamand. Not only that, but he also took the liberty of presenting them the canoe they were going to use to reach the port that will subsequently lead them to their intended destination. It was a strange sight for Telma to see, but she had to admit it was amazing to see such a transport that she's sure she's never seen in her life.

"I never thought I'd be able to see these kinds of things," Telma confessed as she examined the canoe thoroughly, "I've heard about big ships that can traverse the seas and smaller boats that can handle rivers and things like that, but never seen one up close."

"But there are five of us, and only one canoe. How are we going to manage this?" Maria wondered.

"I'm sure we can figure something out along the way," Minwu answered, "In the meantime, it would be best to cut across the lake past Altair than to take a treacherous hike close to the mountains in the other direction."

"Well, that's good to know at the very least," Maria admitted.

"However, from here on in, we have to be extra careful during our long journey," Minwu added with caution in his voice, "There are other monsters roaming the lands, and there is the possibility of encountering the imperial forces along the way."

"Like that general called Tristan?" Firion asked.

The white wizard fell silent for a moment upon hearing that name. "That's quite possible. We cannot afford to be reckless with our lives if there are adversaries much stronger than what we've encountered thus far, much less if that someone has more experience in battle than all of you put together."

Basically, if anyone intends to get directly involved in serious matters such as war, then it would be best to proceed with the utmost care. But even so, the four survivors really wanted to take the battle to their enemy and settle the score for good; however, they had to admit that Minwu was right in the fact that there are foes that could very well be beyond their current level of combat experience.

"Well, that's fine and dandy, I guess," Telma said with a shrug, "but honestly, the sooner we can get an edge against the empire, the better. That way, when we get the opportunity, we can give those monsters a dose of their own medicine."

Firion gave her a weird look when he heard that. "Are you really that eager to defeat the imperials?"

"You're one to talk, Firion. You're just as eager as I am, I can tell," Telma retorted with a knowing look on her face.

"Before we leave, we'd best visit the armories in town and gather what supplies we'll require on the way," Minwu told them, "We will want to make sure that you're all prepared for the greater threats that will stand in our way, and with the right equipment to fend off the fiends out in the wilds."

As soon as everyone was out of the rebel base, the group scattered off to purchase and gather the necessary items needed for the long trip to Salamand. Firion and Guy went to the armor shop to look for better armor than they had last time they were equipped, while Maria and Minwu went to look for potions and the like. On Telma's part, she was asked to visit the stalls and search for light food to pack along; thankfully, on her part, the white wizard gave her a list of what necessities they require so that she would what she's doing while in town.

While she was doing that, though, she couldn't help but have the feeling that she was being followed around the town. Sometimes, she would look around for any sign of something suspicious, but wouldn't see anyone within her vicinity. But after a while, however, Telma finally decided to track down where her suspicions were coming from and wandered away from the stalls without delay. She looked around every street for about half an hour until she figured that there was only one way to know who's there.

"Whoever you are, you'd better show yourself before I think about using my magic," Telma warned strongly.

That was when a timid male voice implored, "Wait, please! I didn't mean to make you nervous. I'm sorry."

Telma watched in confusion as a young man emerged from behind one of the houses with his hands held at the level of his eyes. For a second, she thought that she was seeing double because the new stranger had a peculiar resemblance to Scott, who died back in Fynn after confessing everything that happened; but then she realized that there was something different about that young man.

Though he had the light blond hair Scott possessed, it was kept barely above the neck. He was dressed in a yellow knee-length tunic held by a leather belt carrying a knife in a sheath and protected with a bronze breastplate, with yellow-green trousers and lightly armored leather boots; on his arms he wore decorated gauntlets and a royal purple cloak over his tunic that extended to his knees as well. On his head was a blue and gold circlet with an ocean-blue gem held right in the middle of the noble bauble.

Baffled at this, Telma had to ask, "Okay then…would you mind answering some questions? First of all, who are you and what are you doing here? And second, why were you following me all over the town?"

"Oh…My name is Gordon. I was once a prince from Kashuan," answered Gordon, "Now I'm nothing but a coward. I fled while my brother fell in battle against the forces from Palamecia, and…now I'm a hopeless weakling."

_Wow, does this guy have some serious self-esteem issues_; Telma thought to herself, _I never would've guessed that this is the brother of Scott_.

"Mind if I ask if that brother happened to be called Scott?" she asked bluntly.

Gordon looked toward her in shock when she asked that. "Yes…Scott is my older brother! But…how do you know his name? How do you know about him for that matter?"

"Well, for starters, I only met him once before he gave up the ghost, so I can't say that I know him that well," Telma explained, "And the other thing is that…" She shuffled through her jacket and pulled out the ring she kept when Hilda declined taking it. "This ring was given to us when we found him."

The instant she did pull out the ring, Gordon's face shifted into an indescribable shock as he laid eyes upon the silvery trinket she was holding within her gloved palm. He was about to reach out and take a look, but then he stopped himself and looked toward her as though he was asking permission to have it; feeling a little pity for him, Telma took the liberty of placing it in his hand and allowing him to look at the only thing left of his biological sibling.

"This…this is my brother's ring. There's no doubt about it," he said with tears in his eyes.

"Speaking of which, he did ask to pass on a message to you," Telma told him, "He said that he wants you to have more faith in yourself, and to be strong through the crisis."

The Kashuan prince shifted his gaze to her in disbelief. "He actually said that?"

"Well, yeah! I mean, if you met Firion and the others, you wouldn't believe what crap we went through because of those freaks that wanted to spill the blood of even innocents," Telma replied with fire in her voice, "If we hadn't been saved, we'd wouldn't even have gotten involved with the Wild Rose, or become part of their little gang for that matter. Believe me, if you asked Firion, you'd know what I mean."

"Maybe so…but why are you here, then?" Gordon had to ask, "For what reason are you joining the rebellion?"

That made Telma fall silent for a moment, thinking over what she wanted to say that wouldn't sound like a lame excuse or something utterly stupid altogether. As far as she knows, the princess had a reason to want to fight back against the empire because it was her kingdom she lost to the empire. Minwu supports the cause, and so does Mingzhu. So…what reason was she here? She knew that her adopted family was killed by the enemy during their escape from Fynn, and she does want to exact vengeance on them for what she lost…but was there something else she wants from this?

"My adopted parents were killed by those Palamecian monsters and I would like to see them avenged, that I'll admit," She confessed, "If there's anything else, I have yet to determine that."

"If only I had that amount of determination you have…" Gordon mused sadly.

Telma was about to give him a little lecture until…

"Telma, where are you?" Firion's voice called.

"Telma get lost?" Guy's voice asked.

"She is still here. We just need to know where she is," Minwu's voice replied.

That was when Telma realized that everyone must've noticed that she was taking longer than she should, so she'd better hurry if she wants to avoid any trouble.

"Uh-oh, that's my friends calling," Telma said as she began to walk away, "I'd better get going before I give Firion a heart attack."

"W-Wait a minute…Would you mind telling me your name before you leave?" Gordon pleaded.

The young mage turned around to face the prince and answered, "The name's Telma, if that's what you want to know."

Then, she made a run for it so that she could locate her friends and avoid being late for the travel they'll be doing to their intended destination.

* * *

Firion was almost on edge when he noticed that Telma was late in meeting back up with everyone at the entrance, and was about to consider searching for her until he saw her running out toward the square at full speed with the goods she was able to collect; just seeing her brought back relief in his system.

"Sorry I took so long, guys. I got held up a bit back there," Telma explained before anyone could question what kept her, "Funny thing is, I thought I was being pursued by a stalker when I was actually being followed by a shy guy."

That caught the attention of Maria. "Who was following you? Was it a spy or a crazy admirer?"

"No, no, it's just a poor boy called Gordon," Telma reassured her, "Why he followed me of all people, I don't really get, but I guess he heard about us at some point."

"Is Gordon friend?" Guy asked out of curiosity, "Someone white wizard know?"

"Actually, yes, I know who Gordon is," Minwu answered as he led everyone out of Altair, "He was one of the princes of the kingdom of Kashuan, and the younger brother of Scott. Unfortunately, they lost their kingdom because of the empire's ruthless assault, and the war has had a rather horrific effect on him. I am sure that it's not easy coping with the trauma of seeing all you know lost by the hands of those who'd take it all in a blink of an eye…"

As they were leaving the town behind, Telma's mind wandered off again when she thought back on how frightened and depressed Gordon was when she first encountered him. Admittedly, she could partially understand how difficult it must be to experience the pain of losing what's important to you; however, the one thing that bothered her was the fact that he kept calling himself a weakling. What kind of man would think like that? Was there something that bound him to that pathetic psyche? There was no way she could find out right now…but perhaps the next time she finds him, she could ask him what's wrong with his head or something around that line.

…But how could say something like that when she has problems herself?


	5. Chapter 5: The Thief and the Mage

**Ohmigosh, I've spent WAY TOO LONG not getting further on this!**

**HiddenxEmotion: I am SO sorry for the hiatus! I was severely sidetracked with my Kingdom Hearts and my Tron fanfics for several months. Forgive me? Hopefully I can make it up to you with an introduction to another OC in this chapter.**

**That being said, I hope this will suffice for now.**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Thief and the Mage

Although the lake was a reasonable distance away from Altair, the journey there was certainly no walk in the park for the travelling party. But whenever they did encounter monsters along the way, Firion and Guy would eliminate them quickly; on occasions they would require healing aid from Minwu (who, thank goodness for them, was very efficient in white magic just as his sister was). Telma and Maria didn't step into the fight unless the pesky nuisances got too close to them, which is where they would use their own weapons against them.

However, when they reached the starting point of the lake they were meaning to cross, everyone quickly noticed that there was something very odd about the environment. On the shore rested what looked like a rowboat, complete with a small campfire that looked like it had been used yesterday; the ground near the shore appeared to have been trifled with, like someone had set up camp there and is about to get packed up and ready to leave at a moment's notice. But the question is whose belongings are they, and where is the owner of the rowboat? It was hard to tell what was going on since they didn't see anyone.

"What person would set up camp in a place like this?" Maria wondered.

"That is a rather strange notion…" Minwu confessed as he inspected the area, "Whoever set camp here seemed about ready to travel elsewhere. But if that's the case, where is the owner of the items in this area?"

Firion looked around him with a feeling of unease. "This could very well be a trap…a trap meant for us."

"Or a trap for the enemy," Telma added.

Guy went over to the campsite and inspected around the environment to search for a clue as to who was there. Then, after a moment or so, he found something that raised his eyebrows: a set of footprints and small bags of valuables consisting of gil and treasures.

"Guy found tracks. Someone here…one man," Guy said as he analyzed the ground. "Man…a thief."

Firion was stunned at the notion. "There's a thief in the area? Then he couldn't have gone too far, especially if he's left valuable items here for some reason."

"Yeeeah, but…you'd think that a good thief would not leave their belongings out in the open for the picking?" Telma pointed out, "That'd be by far the stupidest thing for an amateur burglar to do. For all I care, we might as well be thinking about taking all these things for ourselves and hitting the road right about now."

"And then what? Just let y'all just walk away with all the lovely goodies I've managed to collect while I've been stranded on land with naught but a rowboat at my disposal? Oh, no, no, no, no! That's something I don't enjoy any day of the week, no sir. And besides, I saw those first, so you have no right to take them from me, and especially not without my humblest permission. You see where I'm going here?"

The unexpected masculine voice made everyone jolt in shock and turn around behind them to see a lone young man standing right behind them, tapping his fingers against his hips. The stranger appeared to be in his early twenties with dark black hair held in a ponytail and sandy tanned skin; he was dressed in a striped long-sleeved shirt with a hand-knitted mini poncho over it, complete with a green bandanna on his head and red knee-length shorts holding two belts carrying six knife holsters. On his hands, he wore leather fingerless gloves and knee-length brown boots on his feet, complete with one gold earring on his ear and an eye patch over where his left eye should be.

"Hey, you guys are with those rebel people, aren't you?" the young man asked.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Firion asked back, trying to play dumb.

"Oh, don't even try to play stupid on me. I know who you all are," the young man warned with a cocky grin, "You're with those resisting guys – what was it called again? – The Wild Rose. And, hey, since you're here, I think I'll just take what you've got and be on my way."

That was when he pulled out two of his knives and began to make a charge toward the bewildered rebels. Firion made an attempt to fight back against the thief, but he was stunned to find out that the wayward stranger was much more agile than he was (most likely because he had more experience facing off against anyone who tried to stop him thievery) and actually managed to snatch his satchel from him with little effort.

"Thanks a ton, my good sir! Hope you don't mind me using the potions," the young man said in a sing-song tone.

Maria was flabbergasted at this. "What is with this guy? He's treating this like a game!"

Minwu sighed deeply in exasperation. "Clearly, this fool is blinded to the reality surrounding him…"

When Firion was having trouble, Guy attempted to lend a hand in the fray; but even with both men making the charge, they just couldn't slow the rascal down. If anything, he was toying with them while snatching whatever little things he could get his hands on. It didn't take long for Telma to get sick of this and decide that enough is enough.

"Alright, that does it. Someone's going to need some serious discipline," Telma growled irritably.

Since the stranger was too busy playing around with his targets, Telma was able to take matters into her own hands and smacked him upside the head – hard! The moment the tip of her staff made impact, the thief immediately stopped to hold his head with his hands and rub it in an attempt to soothe the sudden pain he experienced.

"Ouch! Cripes, lady, what gives?" he demanded.

However, Telma was not done yet: almost as though on instinct, she started conjuring bolts of thunder from seemingly nowhere, forcing the startled stranger to start running around the field like his life depended on it. Everyone else simply watched the man turn from mischievous to scared, not sure what exactly was going on at the moment; it didn't really help that Telma was not going to give the thief a break. But then, the chaos finally stopped when one thunderbolt successfully electrocuted the thief and forced him to fall flat on the ground in defeat.

"Okay…okay, okay, you win! White flag! I surrender!" the thief called out as he coughed a bit.

Satisfied that things were going their way at last, Telma finally stopped what she was doing and took a breath to calm down. All the while, everyone else was just speechless as how she was able to punish a thief that easily without even bothering to ask for help; but did that bother her? No, it didn't faze her in the slightest.

"Now, then…There's three things I want you to do for me, thief," Telma said as she hovered over the freaked out fellow. "First of all, give back what you've stolen to Firion and Guy without any complaints. Secondly, you will explain what you were doing out here in the open field. And third, once you've told us everything, you **will** perhaps provide some kind of help on our journey…won't you?"

The thief gulped a bit before he replied, "Eh…right…Well, you see, what crap I went through was quite enormous. I got separated from my pals – especially my sweetheart - because of a really rowdy storm. The only reason I survived was because I was in the rowboat at the time. That's why I have that thing even now. After that, I've just been trying to survive on land the only way I knew how: stealing, pickpocketing, call it whatever you want." He gulped again nervously. "In fact, I was about to take my leave and look for a place to seek out my colleagues until you guys showed up and started looking through my things."

"That doesn't explain why you were messing with us," Maria criticized.

"Hey, c'mon, I said that I was just trying to survive!" the thief insisted, "Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to live, especially when there's a war going on and that lousy empire is raising hell on earth as they are right now."

That raised Minwu's brow a bit. "Am I to assume you've had experience with the empire before?"

That was when the thief had a dark look on his face, and he raised his hand to the eye patch where his left eye should've been.

"Oh, hell yeah, I know what those demons were like," he replied with a growl, "It was because of one of those scoundrels within the empire that I lost my eye all those years ago. I was just a petty thief then, and it was because of one of the castle wardens that my eye was destroyed. Trust me, I would've died if one little girl hadn't stepped in…"

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Telma developed a puzzled look on her face. What was he talking about? Who did he meet before?

But her thoughts were interrupted when the thief brought up a proposition. "Tell you what: let's make a little deal, eh? If you guys help me find my pals and my gal, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Steal from enemy soldiers? No problem. Take any loot from whatever chests we come across? No sweat. Extract any information? Sure, I can do that, too. What d'ya say to that? Can't say no, can ya?"

In a manner of speaking, nobody can deny that he's right. Sure, there is Paul who works with the rebels (but he's focused on the main group hiding out in Altair); but for them, it felt like there could be a great benefit to have a thief on the outside working with them. He did say that he can do whatever they want him to do, and he did want to find his comrades. How can one say no?

But Firion still had his suspicions on him. "I'm not so sure if you're being honest with us. If we do allow you to join us, can you promise that you will not even try to backstab us afterwards?"

"Sure, sure, if that's what you want," the thief replied casually, "I'll gladly do any sign of making promises: pinky swears, cross my heart, whatever you want. Now can we get a move on, please? I'd like to leave this campsite and slide away from the empire's radar and the sooner the better."

Telma and Maria looked at each other, simultaneously thinking 'someone's in a rush to do the job, huh?' on the matter.

But then Nikolas brought up an additional offer that surprised everyone. "And, hey, since you're all here, I can offer up a ride on my little boat for whoever wants to traverse with me. Knowing you guys, you already have your rowboat, sure. But how are you all gonna be able to get across? I'll bet you didn't think about that."

Those words made everyone feel like they hit a brick wall for a second as they thought that over.

"Well, since he worded it that way…" Maria murmured thoughtfully.

"But given that you're a thief, and possibly a professional one, it would be best if at least one person kept an eye on you as we head to Salamand," Minwu added with utmost caution in his voice, "As Firion said before, we'd rather not take chances at the notion of betrayal."

"Then I'll go with Nikolas," Telma bluntly answered, "If he tries to do anything funny, I'll just give him a good scolding."

Not exactly favoring the idea of a friend of his being alone with a complete stranger, Firion turned to Guy with a request.

"Guy, would you mind riding with Telma? At the very least, make sure she's safe," he asked in concern.

"Telma in good hands," Guy replied simply.

After that, the transport arrangements were settled: Firion, Maria, and Minwu went ahead in their canoe while Telma and Guy rode with Nikolas in his rowboat across the lake. But while this was going on, the thief had something to say toward the mage.

"Y'know, now that I look at you, you kinda remind me of that little girl back then," Nikolas commented as he kept rowing.

Telma shifted her head in confusion. "How so?"

"Eh, I dunno…something about your face…" Nikolas replied before his voice trailed off in thought, "…Hmm…I wish I could remember where exactly."

"What little girl like?" Guy asked him, wanting to know what was up.

"Uh…let me think…Oh, yeah, the little girl had dark brown hair and brown eyes," the thief replied as he tried to recall, "Something happened to her as she tried to save me…What happened…What was it? Wait, I think her hand was burned or something. It's been so long, and I've spent trying to forget about the hell I had in Palamecia."

_This is just getting too weird…hearing about this emperor, and now this guy is saying he knows of Palamecia_, Telma thought. _But what was he talking about when he mentioned a little girl saving his life? And what did he mean when he said the girl was burned in her hand…?_

That was when a spark of thought came to her mind, and made her lift her glove up a moment to look at the scar on the back of her palm. _Now that I think about it, I've always had that burn on my palm ever since I woke up in Fynn, but I didn't know why_, she thought to herself. _But how did I get it…?_

However, she decided not to think about it because she wanted to keep her focus on the mission and help resist against the empire…with the only thing Telma hoping is not to see that old general who was in Fynn last she knew.

* * *

Loud clangs of blades clashing against each other rang throughout the training room, only emphasized by the spar between the new recruit and the veteran soldier. However, it became clear to Leon that Tristan was much more experienced in combat than he could possibly comprehend; if what he had heard from the emperor was correct, this elderly warrior has fought more battles than he could count and has dealt with violence for many years. It was no wonder why he was so powerful and unrelenting…and why Leon felt like an untrained amateur in comparison.

"Come now, boy! Is this what you've been taught ever since you've picked up the sword at the right age?" Tristan criticized as he kept pressing his advances, "War is no easy stroll, you should know. It's kill or be killed. Now come! Show me the strength you're hiding underneath that meek farce!"

Almost as though a nerve had been hit very effectively, Leon bolstered all the strength he could muster and charged at the persistent general with everything he's got. Sure enough, Tristan could finally see the potential his newest pupil has hidden within him; but even so, he had to make sure that he learned how to fight smart and hard at the same time. With one move, he blocked the last swing and pulled out a knife from his scabbard and held it up against the young man's neck, making Leon stop what he was doing the instant he saw the steel blade close to his throat and ready to pierce through.

"Are you seeing this, Leon? It's something I've learned when I had to deal with insurgents within Palamecia," Tristan explained as he lowered the knife, "The one thing you should know is that there are fighters who will not fight fair as soon as they find the opportunity. You'd do well to remember what you've learned, you hear me?"

Leon took a moment to catch his breath before replying, "I guess your emperor was not lying when he said you wouldn't hold back…How long have you been a soldier, if I may ask?"

Tristan was quiet for a moment. "…Practically decades, boy…I lost track of how long exactly, though. I suppose that's what happens when you've been in combat for so long."

"What do you remember then?" Leon pressed, wanting to know.

At first, the old knight didn't say anything, trying to contemplate what he should do with that young man who hardly understands the hell he had to deal with; he didn't favor the idea of spilling any information that could be used against him and the empire. But since this was someone new and unaware of Palamecia's history, perhaps he could explain something.

"Normally, I wouldn't discuss such things openly…but since you're not from around here and you're just starting to become part of the army, I guess you should know," Tristan replied when he knew the recruit won't back down, "As far as I can remember, I've served the previous emperor in my younger years. Back then, I was nothing more than a filthy rat that all would despise or ignore. It took too much pain and torture to get out of that, but because I was able to persist, I found favor in the royal family and fought to make my own name. I've been in the army ever since then, especially after our new emperor took control."

"I can see why you've been respected after all that hell. But that's not all there is, isn't there? There's something else," Leon pointed out, "Back when I was naught but a prisoner, you wanted to know about Telma. You even thought that there might be a connection. What interest is she to you?"

Now that was something the aged veteran didn't expect to be asked; he was sure that he told the young man what he needed to know, but it seemed that what he had told wasn't enough. One side of him wished that he didn't have to bring up that subject again, wanting to keep his focus on his own missions. But on the other hand, the new recruit he was working on to fit among his troops was his only possible connection to that girl he knew from who knows when and through him, he could get answers to his own child's whereabouts. After all, didn't he believe that the Telma the boy knew and his own child might be look-alikes or the same person? Well, there was only one way to find out…

"I've already told you that my own daughter disappeared from home, and her whereabouts have not been confirmed, did I not?" Tristan asked. Leon gave a nod, allowing the old knight to continue. "I might sound like a sentimental fool, but I am hoping that you might be able to help me locate her and confirm whether or not the Telma you know of is my own child or not. Until I have confirmation, I can only search for evidence within the invaded territories and make do with what has been found."

At that point, the elder knight wasn't willing to talk about it any further, which Leon quickly picked up the moment Tristan turned his attention elsewhere. But with what information he has acquired, though, an unusual spark of doubt pricked in his mind. Was there something he was missing, and he didn't know about it…?


	6. Chapter 6: Trouble in Salamand

**And now we're learning about Salamand's troubles (it's exactly what it says on the title). And there's the possibility that someone knows Telma...**

**Okay, I'm gonna be honest. I thought it was unfair that Josef is a widower, so that's why I decided that he needs someone in his life. I hope that's alright.**

**That being said, hope you enjoy!**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Trouble in Salamand

"Brrrrrr~! Is it really this cold over here?!" Nikolas complained as he rubbed his arms feverishly.

"It makes me wonder how you are a man, and yet you are unable to handle a drastic change in conditions," Minwu said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey, I'll have you know, Mr. White Wizard who looks like he should be from a desert, that as much as I can stomach traversing on land," the thief retorted, "I can't stand being far away from places that have water out in the open."

As the thief and white wizard were continuing their little sarcastic banter, Telma couldn't help but roll her eyes while holding her arms with her hands. As much as she questioned what they've gotten themselves into, travelling into the northern parts of the country, even she couldn't deny that the change in conditions was not exactly cakewalk to deal with; speaking of which, every moment she got the chance, she looked back toward her friends and couldn't help but notice how Firion was slightly shivering from the chill in the air and Maria was shaking in her boots almost constantly, while Guy was – oddly enough – hardly bothered by the icy atmosphere. If she wasn't feeling cold herself, she would've laughed at the scene.

"Hey, Firion, you wouldn't happen to know anything about Salamand, would you?" Telma asked in an attempt to get her mind off the weather.

Her white-haired friend shook his head somberly. "I can't say that I do. It's been so long since I've ever been there…not since…"

That was when she immediately caught on that she entered a rather touchy subject, making her wish she didn't ask him like that. _Stupid me_, she scolded herself in frustration.

Thankfully, Maria was able to step in and quietly explain, "It's something Firion normally doesn't talk about. He used to have a family of his own, but he lost that when he was very young. Though, I think it'd be best to wait on speaking about his early years until he is ready to do so."

Telma nodded in agreement on it, knowing that it'll have to wait since they have other problems to deal with.

* * *

The town of Salamand, however, was not exactly what the party was expecting after the long trek they had to make to get there.

The first thing that everyone noticed immediately was the town was eerily quiet and few people were wandering around the streets with indications of worry and sadness written all over their actions and their faces. A few of the houses were a bit run-down with crude repairs made in a few places, and the doors and windows of several buildings were either badly broken or had been completely destroyed as some of the civilians did their best to make some form of recovery while working against the cold conditions.

The sight of the depressing atmosphere nearly made all of them repulsed at what they were seeing before their very eyes.

"Something's not right about this place. It almost looks as though…as though something terrible has happened to the townsfolk," Telma noticed with a concerned tone.

"What happened here?" Firion questioned as he looked around.

"I might be stretching it, but I fear that something occurred in Salamand that involves the empire," Maria replied.

"I wouldn't be too surprised about it;" Nikolas commented darkly, "The Empire just loves to make other people's lives a living hell."

"What we've seen is just another fraction of the crimes Palamecia would commit against those who they have terrorized. After all, kingdoms are not the only things that suffer from senseless conquest," Minwu pointed out as he looked around at the sad state of the town, "Let's see if we can find out what happened and locate Josef since we're already here."

Once again, everyone split up for a moment to inspect the damage done to the dismal town and learn what they could about the situation. Maria and Nikolas spoke with the women and children of the town and discovered that many of the men were taken from Salamand and forced into laboring for mythril within the mines at Semitt Falls; what few remaining men there were in the small countryside were considered useless either due to disability or don't have the right physicality to perform hard labor. Firion and Guy inspected the damage done to the homes and shops of the town, and questioned some of the residents as to whether it was the doing of the empire's forces; sure enough, the damage was the result of the enemy breaking into places to take away much of the civilians. Telma and Minwu went looking for Josef, mostly because the white mage was quite certain that there was someone among the remaining villagers who would know where he's sheltered; that, and the young lady didn't have much of a choice on her part, especially since the mage didn't want her to wander off alone.

That is, until something caught Telma's attention for a moment. As she was following Minwu, she noticed a stone sticking out from the hilltop, but she couldn't make out what it is. However, she decided against investigating it until they were finished with their business in Salamand.

At the very least, when she moved on, she passed by a particular house until she barely caught a glimpse of a figure looking out the window, albeit cautiously. At first, Telma couldn't make out who's there, but what she could see was a bald head and something jade green over the body. Against her better judgment, she chose to take a closer look and find out if anyone's there; but as she approached the window to peek inside, the figure disappeared from sight, much to her disappointment.

"Did you see something?" Minwu asked from behind her.

Telma turned to see him standing behind her. "I thought I saw someone inside. I couldn't see much, except for a bald head and…something green on that person."

The white mage looked through the window to see what he could find, and when he spotted the silhouette of the person Telma vaguely described, he understood what she was talking about.

"If your description is correct, then that means we've found Josef," Minwu said as he backed away from the window. "I'll head back and look for Firion and the others. Please stay here a moment, and don't do anything rash."

As he left to locate everyone else, Telma decided to wait by the door until they came back. As she stayed rooted to where she is, trying to ignore the cold, a little question crossed her mind about the person they were looking for. _Now that I think back on it, I haven't asked who this Josef is,_ she thought, _and what business he has with the Wild Rose people_. However, for some odd reason, that wasn't the only thing on her mind; something about that name sounded like yet another thing she should know…but she wasn't sure whether or not that was true.

But then there came a point where her patience practically wore out quickly, and decided to knock on the door to see if anyone is there to answer it. Though Telma knew she was instructed to wait, her urge to get the job over with got the best of her and made her disobey what she was told.

The door opened up to reveal a woman in her mid-thirties, with her long blond hair put up in a net cap and serene blue eyes that were tinted with fear; she was dressed like any other woman in the village, wearing a long jade-green dress with a hand-knitted shawl over her shoulders and leather boots on her feet.

"May I help you?" the woman asked with a wary voice.

"Umm…hello? Sorry to bother you, but we're looking for Josef," Telma explained nervously, "My friends and I wanted to, uh, have a word with him…if…that's alright with you?"

That made the woman curious. "How do you know of Josef? Are you with the empire, or are you with the rebels?"

Thankfully, Firion and the others arrived just in time to explain their situation.

"We were told that he would be here, and that he might have information we needed," Firion explained.

"Unfortunately, our business with him is rather urgent," Minwu added.

"Oh…well…alright. Come in, then. But do not expect him to trust all of you so easily," the woman warned them, "You see, terrible things happened in Salamand, and…and…" Her voice broke a bit. "I'm sorry. It's difficult to describe."

Nonetheless, everyone was invited inside the house without further question, but not without Minwu taking the liberty to chastise Telma for her impatience before seeking an audience with the person they were meant to meet up with.

But when they got to meet the man for the first time, he wasn't quite what the younger rebels didn't quite expect. He appeared to be in his mid to late forties with a bald head and stern eyes that could pierce through the soul of whoever meets his gaze; he was wearing a large green cloak with short horned shoulder pads that nearly completely covered his body, but a tunic could barely be seen underneath the cloak with thick leather boots fit for travel across rougher terrain.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Telma, Josef's eyes scanned each of them; but when they landed on Telma, his eyes widened for a split second before turning his gaze away and returning to his wary demeanor.

"Excuse us, but…are you Josef?" Maria asked, unsure of what this stranger would think of them.

For a moment, Josef narrowed his eyes with suspicion towards them. "Do you have business with me?"

Everyone looked at each other in confusion for a second before remembering what they were told earlier. But Firion, being the rather impulsive person that he is sometimes, took the initiative to explain why they were here.

"Princess Hilda told us to look for you in Salamand," Firion bluntly answered.

But Josef didn't seem convinced at his words. "You're here for Lady Hilda? A little short in the tooth, aren't you? You kids can't fool me."

"Short in the…uh, excuse me, sir, but haven't you even looked at them up close?" Nikolas commented, "Whatever it is they went through, I'm pretty sure their immaturity has lessened quite a bit because of **_those guys_** who have been wreaking havoc as of late."

"With all due respect, Josef, we came here to speak about whether or not you have found any leads on the mythril the empire has been mining for war," Minwu interrupted without shame. "You hadn't given us your reports on what you've found for days now."

The instant Minwu questioned him about the mythril and the assignment, Josef jolted a bit and his entire body tensed up very defensively. That was something that didn't make sense to everyone, because normally someone who worked alongside the rebels would be willing to provide any information they have gathered to their close colleagues; but now, something was just completely out of place.

"M-mythril? I haven't found any yet. I have a few leads, but…" Josef's voice trailed off a moment, but then hardened a bit as though he were still suspicious of them. "I don't plan on sharing what I DO know with a bunch of perfect strangers."

"Strangers, us?" Guy questioned, perplexed at the cold treatment.

"I'm gonna need all of you to do a little something to prove you are who you say you are," Josef continued, "There's a bunch of people from Salamand who are being forced to work in the cave at Semitt Falls. Rescue them, and we'll talk."

But for Telma, she had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to this request than meets the eye that everyone else hasn't caught on to. Though, when she thought about it, the woman who let them in – she could safely assume is the wife of Josef – had made mention about the crisis of the town (which everyone has noticed upon investigating the place); but there was something else on her mind, too: something that indicated that whatever grief she was under the influence of was of a more personal matter. If that was the case, then what could it be?

Before she could bring that subject up, she quickly realized that everyone else has chosen to back off from the reluctant informant.

"I see…then I suppose we'll have to take your word for it, and do as you request," Minwu said in resignation.

"So, what, are we just going to walk away, just like that?" Nikolas asked, quite surprised at this.

Firion sighed in exasperation. "It seems that way. We're not going to get any more out of him until we help the people get out of the cave they're forced to labor in. Let's just go and rescue the villagers."

One by one, everyone began to take their leave of the house, with Telma being the last one to leave. But rather than just walk away as she was supposed to, she decided to try and pry further than the others did.

"There's something else going on with you, isn't there?" she had to ask.

Josef raised a brow at this. "What makes you ask?"

"That hard, defensive behavior of yours wasn't just about the townsfolk, I'm sure," Telma pressed the matter, "There was desperation hiding somewhere in there, although difficult to spot. I've seen that when I saw that old knight back in Fynn, when he was looking for his child. What for or why, I do not know. But I'm certain that what you're going through is a similar situation…or am I wrong about that?"

From the corner of her eye, Telma watched as his eyes widened for a second at what she was saying. She wasn't sure whether it was because she mentioned the knight she saw before or if Josef was shocked at her suspicions, or if it was both; in any case, she was sure that she found some form of clue that she could use.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," she said quietly as she began to walk away.

Knowing that she might've learned something, Telma started to walk away and catch up with everyone else, but was caught off-guard when she felt his strong hand clasp her shoulder for a moment; this in turn made her turn around with a puzzled face, wondering what it is that he wanted from her (or if she was in trouble).

"Pardon me for asking, young lady…but have we met before?" Josef asked very strangely, like he was experiencing déjà vu.

Immediately, Telma felt like she lost her voice. What was he saying just now? And why would he question whether they he had met her? Her mind was rather blank on thinking of any possible answers that should be crossing within her head.

She hesitated before answering quickly, "No…I don't think so."

Fortunately, when she gave her answer, Josef released her and allowed her to leave the house and keep up with everyone else; but not without having one question that would haunt her on the way to their next destination.

_Do I really know that man?_


	7. Chapter 7: Semitt Falls

**I swear, my FF Delay Syndrome is getting worse. But in all fairness, I was bent on getting my third KH fanfic up before trying to get anything else up.**

**Little Yami: I am horribly sorry for taking so long to update. I hope this will stave your literary hunger for a little while.**

**That being said, hope you readers - what few I have here - enjoy this.**

**If any others are noticing this, constructive reviews are welcome. Rude comments are not.**

**I own nothing of Final Fantasy 2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Semitt Falls

"So, let me see if I can get this right: Josef will not disclose any information to us unless we rescue the villagers taken from the town and forced to work in the mines," Maria said as she tried to make sense of the situation, "And in the meantime, we have to locate the mythril the empire is hoarding up to bring with us to Altair. Is that right?"

"Yes, you're correct on that," Minwu replied, "Though, I wish I knew why he would make such a request to us like that."

"Sweet, I love the idea of robbing something precious from the empire!" Nikolas said excitedly.

Firion couldn't help but shake his head at the thief as he bounced excitedly at the idea of stealing a resource that is needed to be able to stand better against the empire than they were the moment Palamecia had razed the kingdom. But then again, this is Nikolas, and he has been in the business for a while (how long exactly he didn't have the foggiest idea), so it was only fair that he would be eager to screw someone up in any way.

But on Telma's part, though, her mind was on another matter: the strange thing that Josef questioned before she left with the others to fulfill a request of his. She was caught off-guard when he asked if they had met before, almost as though he was seeing either a face from his past or a ghost; on one hand, she was sure that she didn't know that man, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but wonder if Josef did know her in some way. Maybe she could ask him when they got back from Semitt Falls…preferably when Minwu is not around, since she isn't sure who she can trust with her problems other than Firion, Maria, and Guy.

_I swear I'm starting to attract too much attention at this rate_, she thought in frustration. _I'm sure all of my questioning and my inability to understand why other people see déjà vu around me are starting to raise eyebrows somewhere, somehow._

Anyways, getting to Semitt Falls was a bit tough with the more dangerous creatures lurking about in the wilds, but with Minwu keeping the party alive and everyone else pooling their abilities together, they were able to breeze through it all like cakewalk. Sure, there was also the terrain to deal with, but really it was the monsters that were the bigger problem in comparison to any landscape.

When they arrived at the cave, it was quickly discovered that the entire environment was much more dismal in comparison to the depressive situation of Salamand. The air within the caves was so damp and cold that one could easily think that it is winter in there, unlike the outside world beyond the hole leading into the darkest depths inside; not to mention, much of the area is seriously rocky and rather rough from the floor up, which would make traversing through the cave a bit more difficult to do.

"Whoa, so that's where all the mining's going on? No wonder the empire is so desperate to get all the goodies to take over the world," Nikolas commented.

"But such a thing shouldn't come at the expense of unwilling civilians' lives," Firion said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"One can be surprised how far even one person is willing to go to achieve their selfish, ambitious goals," Minwu replied somberly.

"With all the atrocious things I'm hearing about so far, I am starting to dislike the empire even more," Maria sighed in dismay.

But then Guy interrupted everyone when he said in alert, "Listen…rocks breaking. Voices cry out. Pain echo around walls."

Upon being told that, everyone quieted down long enough to faintly hear the very voices that Guy mentioned; and sure enough, they could barely hear the cracking of the rocks and the snapping of whips, followed by the agonizing pained cries of people far down below. That was just enough evidence to force them to get a move on if they wanted to slow down the operations of the enemy, if at the very least a little bit.

Along the way, though, they had to deal with a fair share of tougher goblins along with those fiery monsters called Bombs and the occasional Sasquatch as they trekked deeper into the tunnels of the cave. But as they went deeper down the tunnel, however, they found a lot more trouble up ahead of them the moment shadows of armored individuals could be seen from afar. Not wanting to attract too much attention just yet, the group tried to listen in on the conversation going on between a pair of soldiers.

"What's the progress on the mining?" one soldier asked with an inhuman voice.

"It's gone slower than usual. Those weaklings we took from that town are just not giving us the results his Majesty would've wanted," another soldier replied in a human voice, obviously frustrated. "It didn't really help when Borghen left the place at the first opportunity after taking that stubborn traitor's daughter, claiming that the mines are 'too filthy' for comfort." A small groan was heard. "Honestly, why did the emperor allow such a hideously fat pig among our ranks? You've seen how disgusted the general was over that hog."

"What difference does it make? That 'fat pig' as you call him is nothing but a cowardly maggot trying to kiss up to those far superior to him," the inhuman soldier answered dismissively, "Though, I will agree that Borghen is certainly quickly losing favor."

"Speaking of the general, have you heard that he's ordered a wide search for his daughter ever since he found a possible clue in the ruins of the latest conquered kingdom?" the human soldier asked out of curiosity, "Apparently, General Tristan is convinced that the girl in that portrait he found and his lost child are one and the same. What do you think about it?"

The inhuman soldier shook his head in uncertainty. "Who knows? I'd only know if I saw the look-alike myself…"

Unfortunately for the rebels, as they were moving closer to try and hear a little better, a few rocks broke off the wall and fell towards the two soldiers; this in turn caused them to turn around and spot them in mere seconds.

"Intruders! Kill them all!" the inhuman soldier ordered as he drew his broadsword.

"For the emperor!" the human soldier yelled as he pulled out his sword.

"Great…now what have we gotten ourselves into?" Telma murmured irritably under her breath.

Naturally, they had no other choice but to deal with the two soldiers before they could raise any alarms to other potential troops lurking beneath the dim lights of the lanterns scattered across the place. While Firion, Guy, and Maria were dealing with the soldier with the broadsword with what they've got, Telma kept the human soldier at bay while Nikolas stole the goodies left exposed; Minwu kept everyone in good condition with his magic, only using his dagger to keep the guard back when necessary.

But when the two enemies were finished off with a lot of work, something one of the dying soldiers said caught everyone off-guard; in particular, the human soldier, especially when he pointed toward Telma.

"It can't…Is it really…?"

The rest of the words were choked by his death.

This surprised Firion and the others, but Minwu had no idea what was going on. So naturally, he had to ask if only because something didn't sound right.

"What was that soldier talking about?" he asked, suspicion starting to rise.

"I…" Firion hesitated, and then lied. "…I don't know."

"What does it matter? If those creeps are part of a group sent to keep the guys there under restless labor, then we'd better get rid of them before anyone knows we're here," Telma interrupted as she started moving. "And the sooner we find them and get them out, the better."

"I agree. We'd better hurry," Maria agreed, not wanting to stick around too long.

As they did traverse deeper in, they certainly did run into more soldiers on separate occasions along with the monsters that lurked within the runnels. But fortunately, all that exhaustive combat was able to cease when they finally located the source of the sounds they heard from the entrance; sure enough, they could hear the sound of groaning in pain and the clinking of mining equipment against the rocks.

"The villagers must be just beyond this door," Minwu speculated as he listened.

"Maybe they know where the mythril is being holed up," Maria wondered.

"It could be possible, considering how they're willing to just take what's in here for their own sake at the expense of the lives of others," Firion agreed, his blood about to boil.

"Hey, that's why we're taking all the baddies' goodies at the expense of _their_ lives, ain't that right?" Nikolas pointed out.

Telma rolled her eyes at that comment. "You're just really eager to pick some pockets, aren't you?"

But then Guy interrupted when he said, "Someone coming. Sound of walking."

Immediately, everyone hushed up as they watched the door ahead of them and waited for whatever it was to come out. Sure enough, it was a repulsive, morbidly overweight guard wearing select armor at the chest and the legs, carrying a whip in his hands.

Not wanting to draw too much attention as it is, they waited until he was away from the door, and once the opportunity was there, Guy hit the guard on the head while Firion quickly stabbed him to silence him before any alarms could be raised.

Once it was all clear, they opened the door where the villagers were being kept. At first, everyone there was quite uneasy, not sure who the strangers were.

"Who are you all?" one of them asked, wariness indicated.

"Calm down, will you? We came here to save you all, courtesy of your ever friendly neighbor Josef," Telma answered, not exactly having the patience for interrogation.

Minwu sighed deeply at her response as he healed all the enslaved villagers. "We can assure you that we're here to help all of you escape. Your families are worried, I'm sure."

Another villager gasped in relief. "Then, you're not with…those cursed oppressors?"

"Nah, these guys are with the people who wanna kick the rears of the real baddies," Nikolas answered casually.

"Whoa! Is it really you guys? Who'd have thought about that?"

The instant Firion and Telma registered that familiar voice, the two quickly turned around to find that the villagers of Salamand weren't the only ones trapped within the caves; sure enough, it was Paul, along with a girl who seems to be around ten or twelve years old.

Paul laughed casually as he asked, "You all remember me, don't you? Paul, the greatest thief in the world! Am I ever glad to see you?"

"Paul, what are you doing here? And how did you get yourself into this mess?" Firion asked, quite shocked to see a comrade in the caves.

"Princess Hilda told you where the mythril is, right? This is where I'd normally come in," Paul explained. "I figured out this is where the mythril was coming from easy enough. So I thought I'd get the jump on you guys and nab the mythril before you could get here." Then, his face turned into humiliation. "But I messed up and got caught. ME, of all people!"

Minwu sighed as he slapped his face with his palm. "And I thought my sister gets into enough trouble…"

On Telma's part, she lost her focus on the reckless thief and kept her attention on the girl next to him. The girl was almost shorter than she was, with blond hair put into two pigtails and blue eyes, and was wearing a simply decorated green dress and leather shoes. However, she also appeared to be quite frightened, which would explain why she was clinging tightly to Paul for a small amount of comfort. So, not wanting to frighten the child herself, she knelt down to her level and decided to talk to her face-to-face.

"Hey, you okay?" Telma asked softly, hoping to get an answer out.

The little girl nodded shyly.

"You mind telling me your name?" Telma asked.

The little girl hesitated, but then answered, "I'm Nelly. My daddy is Josef, and my mum is Audrina."

That helped her understand what the connection is with the trouble in Salamand: Josef was with the rebels and was needed to acquire information on the mythril, but then the empire must've caught wind of this and needed some way to stop him from delivering the information to the princess. But kidnapping the villagers was not enough, wasn't it? So, what better way to do that than kidnap someone precious to Josef? It's no wonder the old warrior was rather tense.

"Hey, Paul, how did this poor girl get herself into this mess?" Telma had to ask to confirm her suspicions.

"I think that dastard Borghen's been holding her hostage to threaten Josef," Paul replied, "But wouldn't you know it? That porky oaf just had to up and leave the moment everything seemed to be in business and left everything to the troops he was given. What kind of traitorous swine would just thrust the dirty work to his so-called colleagues? For that matter, I'd like to know why he got himself into the empire's favor in the first place."

"That doesn't sound like a good military leader to me," Maria said as she shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm starting to agree with you on it…" Telma agreed whilst gritting her teeth.

"Well, in any case, I know when I'm in way over my head…so long! But don't worry; I'll take everyone here with me," Paul said as he prepared to leave, "I owe you guys one."

"Before you go, Paul, would you mind sharing any knowledge on where the mythril is stored away?" Minwu requested.

"Sure: it's just down those stairs to your right. You know what to do from there," he replied as he left with everyone. "See ya all back in Altair!"

When Paul was gone, that left the main party to keep searching in Semitt Falls for the very prize the empire has been using to conquer all the helpless kingdoms. But since they now know where the minerals are, they are on the right track at the very least. However, this meant that they had to traverse deeper into the tunnels in order to locate where the metals were being hoarded for the enemy, and that meant that they had to fight off more monsters that would try and hinder them, or the occasional lingering soldier still lurking around the place for any signs of intruders. On the bright side, though, these confrontations did give Nikolas the opportunity to steal what was needed to pull through in a pinch.

By the time they found where the mythril was contained, there was only one soldier left guarding the treasure, and obviously that soldier was just as repulsive as the others.

"Heh, rebels. Never thought I'd have to deal with your kind here," the soldier sneered in contempt, "Well, if you think you're getting mythril, you're right: my mythril blade straight through your heart!"

"No thanks. I'd rather let my pearl kill me than an imperial soldier," Nikolas commented.

Telma sighed in exasperation. "One of these days, Nikolas, I need to find out who your girlfriend is…"

The fight against the lone warrior was a little hectic, but it wasn't the hardest fight they ever had to deal with; with Maria keeping him at bay with her archery skills, Firion and Guy were able to go in and make hits against the vulnerable areas of the enemy's body while Nikolas stole whatever he could get his hands on. It didn't take long for the repulsive brute to fall to the ground dead, allowing the rebels to gain access to the chest containing the mythril inside.

"Sweet! Just look at this beautiful mythril. How are we going to be able to carry all this awesome stuff back?" Nikolas laughed jovially, "I don't think my satchel can carry a whole lot."

"That's true. How are we going to get all these precious metals back to Altair?" Maria asked.

"Well, there's no possibility in carrying all of it with our hands, unless our rather excitable thief has a satchel big enough to hold so much mythril in one sitting," Minwu deadpanned.

Nikolas pouted. "Someone sure has a lot of faith in me."

"Oh, for crying out loud, why don't we just pick a few and then see if Josef is willing to help us on that when we get back to Salamand?" Telma suggested, rather impatient on getting the job done.

"That'd be a good idea at the moment. Considering how we helped the villagers escape forced labor for the empire, I'd be surprised if he had a way to repay us," Firion agreed, "Perhaps we should see if we could get any help once we get out."

"How we get out? Long way out," Guy pointed out, remembering how far they travelled through the tunnels.

"Let me handle that. I have a spell that can help us leave this place in shorter time than it would take walking out," Minwu answered, "After all, I'm certain some of you are much too tired to keep walking."

When he said that, he was directing this more towards Maria and Telma; after plucking what was available in the chest, the young rebels allowed the white mage to use a Teleport spell to get them out of Semitt Falls' cavern and head back to Salamand before all of them became too weary to move anywhere.


	8. Chapter 8: Firion's Tragedy and Reports

**You know, considering how it was said in Firion's background that his adoptive parents were killed, you'd think that it'd be great to come up with a little glimpse as to who his real parents could've been. **

**But hey, at least I've gotten Telma and Firion to connect a bit more after all the crap they've gone through thus far. And I took the liberty of delving into the enemy's side, if at least through Tristan's POV.**

**That being said, just to get this out right now: constructive reviews and compliments are welcome. Rude comments are not.**

**That being said, enjoy!**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Firion's Tragedy and Reports

When they arrived back in Salamand, the rebels were glad to see the rescued village men reunited with their loved ones and being able to escape the grasp of their oppressors. For the time being, it was quite refreshing to see such joy in the midst of the hellish trouble that is war going on around them. Not only that, but Josef and his family were there to greet them warmly instead of suspicion and fear.

"I deeply apologize for my demeanor before. It was one thing when Borghen brought soldiers to take away villagers for their labors, but when he went so far as to abduct our daughter before my eyes…" Josef apologized in shame. "I was at a loss on what to do. I wanted to help her, truly. But he threatened to kill her if I tried to attempt any form of resistance. I feared there would be no hope in saving my family from them, so…"

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Maria insisted, "What happened to you before we got here wasn't your fault. Palamecia is to blame for all this."

"At any rate, we were at least able to locate where the mythril is," Minwu added.

"Then I guess the only thing that has to be done is to get back to the higher-up lady you guys have been talking about, and get these beautiful pieces of metal over to her so that whoever is the smithy can do whatever he wants with it," Nikolas said with enthusiasm.

Telma let out a sarcastic laugh. "Nuh-uh, not right this instant. I've done a lot of running and walking for the past few days, and I feel like I'm about to collapse at any moment."

"Then you should stay for the night and rest while you can. The mythril's not going anywhere, and you'll need your strength if you want to keep aiding the rebels," Josef offered.

Firion was a bit baffled at the generous offer. "Are you sure about it? Am I to assume Paul told you about everything?"

"Quite so, young man. It's the least the town could do for all you've done," Josef insisted.

At this point, there was no point in saying no to such an offer; especially since the townspeople are able to get back in business and resume their lives as best as they can. It was more beneficial with the shops open for business and the sanctum open for healing when needed (not that they had to worry about it for the moment since Minwu had some healing magic of his own). The only thing that had to be settled was where to rest for the night, considering that Salamand is a small town.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, while everyone else was either making arrangements over lodging or preparing for a later journey back to Altair come the next morning, Telma took the liberty to leave the group in order to simply look around…or so she told everyone else. In actuality, since she was on her own, she decided to take advantage of this by investigating what she had always wanted to do the moment they set foot in Salamand: inspect the upper area of the town. She was sure there was something there that she hasn't seen, and wanted to find out what.

When she was finally able to reach the hilltop that looked over the village a bit, she finally got to glimpse at what she now knew to be tombstones belonging to those who have most likely lived and passed on in the town. Now knowing what she wanted to do, Telma started to look around until she located which stone she saw peeking out moments ago when they investigated the town, and started brushing off the snow to find out what was inscribed on it. Sure enough, she got a surprise when she saw the epitaph written on each side of the stone:

**Castor, Beloved Father - Your untimely death was the cost of many spared lives**

**Luciana, Beloved Mother – Your maternal love will be sorely missed**

_Who could these people be? Judging from these marks, it seems like they were very loving parents who had an impact on someone who loved them_, Telma thought. _But wait, didn't Firion sound like he knows he used to live in Salamand? Now that I think about it, he didn't seem too eager to talk about it…_

"So, you found them, didn't you?"

Telma jolted from surprise, and turned around to find Firion standing right behind her, with a face that indicated he knew what she was up to when she strayed off alone. Afraid of what he might say, she tried to come with something – anything – to say in order to explain her curiosity; but unfortunately, she couldn't come up with anything to say to him that wouldn't sound like she wasn't snooping around where she shouldn't be.

"I…It's…Sorry, Firion. It's just that I wanted to see what was here and…" Telma faltered in shame.

Firion shook his head as he knelt down beside her. To her surprise, Telma watched as he touched the tombstone and sighed sadly at the written words against the stone.

"This is where my parents were buried. I was only a boy when I lost both of them," Firion said after a moment of silence.

Telma turned to him in confusion. "Do you mean…your real parents?"

Firion nodded without looking at her. "My father was involved with the mining at Semitt Falls, while my mother once worked in the sanctum. Our lives were as pleasant as it could get, even when Father was hard at work digging up minerals that can be used and sold for the necessary gil to get us through." He paused. "But then, one day, my father left for work earlier than normal because extra hands were needed. He meant to return come evening, but…he never showed. It wasn't until two days later that a group of weary and traumatized miners came back, and informed us that he got caught in a cave-in and died saving his colleagues."

When she heard this, Telma couldn't help feeling tears start to build up with what information she was hearing.

"And…what happened to your mother?" she asked, her voice choked a bit.

"…She died of grief. Mother didn't feel the same without Father," Firion replied, "and so she rapidly lost the will to live."

That made more sense for Telma since she knew he wasn't really the blood sibling of Maria and Leon, but she never thought that he had lost his own parents like that, much less at such a young age. It was certainly different in comparison to her since she doesn't know whether or not she has any parents, who they were, or if they're even alive; heck, she doesn't know anything about herself.

"I…never thought I'd hear about it," Telma admitted as tears came out, "I guess that's what I get for being nosy."

Firion shook his head and turned to her. "No, it's alright. I just don't speak of these things normally, even when Maria and Leon learned about it. As much as I want to forget about it, it just…it really wants to come back one way or another."

Telma was silent for a moment, contemplating what he might've been feeling when he lost his parents in such a short time; surely, he had to be lucky that he was able to get a new, loving family after all the trouble he went through.

"You should consider yourself fortunate, Firion. I mean, you got another chance to have a happy life when you were adopted," Telma said, "I can't remember anything of my family, and I don't even know if I had any. Plus, I'm not sure what my life was like before I…well, you know what I mean, don't you?" She took a breath before she continued. "Though, after all the insanity we're going through, I swear I'm starting to attract too much attention as of late."

Firion looked at her confusion. "What do you mean?"

She took a breath before she answered, "Well, for one thing, after that little scuffle with Nikolas, he mentioned that he would've been in deeper trouble if a little girl hadn't helped him. Not to mention, the way he described the girl was almost similar to me, and I haven't the foggiest why. And just recently, when I was prying more information from Josef, he stopped me for a moment and asked whether or not he'd met me before. I thought I don't, but now I'm not so sure. But really, just hearing those things – the missing daughter, Nikolas's little story, and Josef questioning his feeling of déjà vu – I'm starting to question if I'm missing something in those conversations."

As she was telling him all this, Telma noticed how Firion was nervously biting his lip as he thought over her words; she wasn't certain if he was feeling uneasy about the information or if he was becoming more afraid that the information on her is about to start leaking out at any moment.

"Firion…? You okay?" she asked, concerned on what he's thinking.

"I'm fine. It's just…I don't know, this is quite new to hear, and it's beginning to make me uneasy," Firion replied nervously. "Maybe I should speak about this with Nikolas later, and hope that no one else hears any questions I might have."

"I'm sure Nikolas will not spill carelessly, not even for a king's ransom," Telma reassured him. "It's Minwu I'm more worried about. Sure, he hasn't questioned us so far, but I personally dread what would happen if he finds out anything, and decides to either confront us on it or report it to the princess…and, really, I'd rather not think about what anyone would view me as." She shook her head. "But I guess if someone finds out, we'll have to figure what to do afterwards."

"Probably…we'll have to cross our fingers on it," Firion agreed. Then he stood up and extended a hand over to Telma, allowing her to take it and stand up. "At any rate, we'd best meet up with everyone. It's about to get dark, and we're about to confirm who is lodging where for the night."

She gave out a small smile at this. "Alright, then, let's find out how we're gonna do this…"

* * *

"And how is the progress on the Dreadnought?" Tristan asked as he was looking over the blueprints.

"Progress on the airship is running along efficiently, and the mechanical testing has successfully fulfilled the necessary expectations required," an engineer replied while presenting the data on the project, "With that new recruit managing the inspections, much of the test runs have been completed on schedule. We just need to do a couple more tests on the engine and the propellers before we can confirm whether or not every piece of machinery is fully functional."

The old general nodded as he handed the blueprint back. "That's certainly quite a lot of progress in such a period of time. As much as I question the idea of ships taking to the skies, I cannot deny his Majesty's genius with these extreme ideas."

"Well, sir, that should give you all the more reason why his Majesty is much greater than the previous emperor," the engineer suggested, "Why, his mind is far more advanced than any ruler I've ever seen in my lifetime, if you don't mind my saying."

That was something even the seasoned general couldn't deny about, considering how long he has known the emperor even before he ascended to the throne. Tristan has always been aware of how absurdly cunning and intelligent he is, being able to make plans for machinery beyond anyone else's understanding and mastering what magic is known within Palamecia in record time, and even shocked his own father with his advanced knowledge of battle tactics and warfare. Though, admittedly, it has made him question where all this mind-boggling cunning came from; surely he must've inherited this from his father until it went beyond what everyone expected from him…is it?

But then, he heard the sound of clunking armor and turned to see one of his own soldiers arrive in the workshop.

"What is it?" Tristan asked.

"Sir, I just received a report on the situation in Semitt Falls: the progress on the mining of mythril has been sabotaged by the Wild Rose, and our troops have been slaughtered by the dozen," the soldier replied dutifully, "A couple days ago, before the rebels made their strike, Borghen left the caves and abandoned the squad he was given. As we speak, he has most likely gone off on his own yet again."

Just hearing this made the old knight's fists clench so tightly that – if he didn't have any gloves on – would've started to bleed through the cracks between his fingers. Ever since that repulsive Borghen joined the Palamecian Empire due to search for benefits from the emperor, he had always loathed that worthless thing from day one; sure, he couldn't refuse the emperor's will to allow that pig among their ranks, but he was sure that the oaf couldn't be trusted at all.

_To think that the imbecile abandoned his own troop just to save his own hide and do whatever he deems fit for him_, Tristan thought bitterly. _What would the emperor think if he heard about this? I'll have to report this to him at once!_

"Thank you. I'll speak with his Majesty about this," Tristan said as he started to walk away.

"Uh…also, I have something else to speak about, General," the soldier interrupted.

The old knight stopped to hear what his own man had to say.

"I had just received word from one of our spies that the woman the new recruit spoke about was also among the rebels," the soldier explained, "Her appearance matched the description of the missing girl and that of the person the recruit mentioned to you, and her talent in magic was no jesting matter. Our spy has reason to believe that it is undoubtedly her."

Hearing this made Tristan's heart jolt in excitement for a moment; there was confirmation that his own daughter is out there and alive! The way she was described was just as he had hoped, and her talent in magic was undeniably true. Now the only thing that had to be done was to find an opportunity to get out there and confirm the truth; perhaps if he sees for himself that she is alive, the emperor would be satisfied with that knowledge, and extra measures can be put in to bring her back.

"Thank you again. You may resume your duties," Tristan acknowledged while trying to keep a steady voice, "I'll update the emperor on our current situation."

Immediately, Tristan left the workshop and moved quickly toward the throne room. As he did, he couldn't help thinking of all that has transpired, and how much hell on earth he went through for the slightest bit of data on the whereabouts of what he missed the most. He couldn't help wondering: What would Mateus think if he heard she's truly alive? Would he have any idea as to how she could be tracked down and brought back home where she belongs? There was only one way to find out.

As he did reach the door to the throne room, though, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of intimidation creep through his bones; but he had a job to do as Palamecia's general and relaying information is just one of many things a soldier has to do. Not wanting to waste time, Tristan slowly opened the door and entered the room like he doesn't know what to expect and had to keep his guard up at all costs.

As he entered the throne room, he was quite surprised to find the entire chamber almost completely dark save for what very few torches were lit from afar. The old knight started to wonder whether his master was away handling other affairs, but a nagging doubt pricked into his head and reminded him that his devious monarch doesn't disappear to other places for too long.

"You have something to report to me, General?"

Tristan jolted in shock at the voice of his emperor right behind him, and turned around to find him standing by the open door with a conjured ball of purple light in his hand. He could tell that his master had actually expected him to show up; it certainly made him wonder if after being around his own warriors for as long as he did, he felt that everyone is very predictable in their actions. But the veteran knight pulled himself together and chose to just roll with it and give the emperor what he must be updated on.

"I have a few updates to present to you, your Majesty: the Dreadnought's construction is proceeding on schedule, and the machines for the airship are undergoing successful tests as we speak," Tristan explained in a calmer tone, "But I have received news that our soldiers have been killed at Semitt Falls. The rebels have taken the mythril from the caves, and now we have no access to the mineral required to produce more materials for our soldiers. What's worse was that Borghen, who was supposed to be keeping watch of the mining process, abandoned his post before the rebels arrived."

Emperor Mateus merely nodded when he heard this. "I guessed as much, Tristan. That pig-faced worm has certainly proved his incompetence rather quickly. I'll have to consider what I could do to force him to cooperate." He watched Tristan clench his fists in frustration. "But I'm certain that's not all there is to it, is there? Is there anything else you need to address to me?"

Tristan took a breath before he replied, "I was also informed that Telma was with the rebels during the assault on Semitt Falls. Her appearance, according to my soldier, matches the description our recruit, Leon, gave to us. She has all the traits that match what I still have in my memory." He paused when he saw the emperor's brow rise in intrigue. "Your Majesty, if I may, is there any way I could see for myself whether she is really there? If so, enlighten me as to how we can confirm the information."

Mateus slowly shifted away from the door as he rubbed his fingers against his mouth in contemplation, making the seasoned warrior uncertain as to what he could be thinking at the moment. But then, a devilish smirk crept up on the ironically untainted face as a spark of an idea came to his mind.

"I might have a strategy we could use to gain more knowledge on her and those maggots that wander around the country," the emperor suggested, "Find Borghen and bring him to Bafsk, where the Dreadnought is undergoing construction. Inform your little recruit to set up a little lure for those pesky insects, while I give our opponents a little incentive to take the bait. When you arrive in Bafsk, keep yourself hidden someplace until you have the rebels right where you right them." He turned to Tristan. "And as soon as you have found out what I need to know, return to Palamecia immediately and update me on everything you've acquired."

Tristan bowed respectfully, barely keeping his excitement from leaking out. "Of course, your Majesty. I will see that everything goes as you see fit."


	9. Chapter 9: Dream or Memory

**And this is where I bring in the start of what I would like to call: the Telma subplot. I thought I might as well start the spark of suspicion that would delve deeper into Telma herself.**

**And just in case someone among my readers is nervous on how I'm portraying my amnesiac protagonist, I can assure you that she is NOTHING like Cloud in FF7 (no offense to the Cloud Strife fans) or any other amnesia-suffering FF characters. Really, amnesiacs don't need to be all broody or anti-social; they can have personalities that still can make them likeable. **

**And one more thing, if this chapter was rather short, I apologize in advance for that. But I hope you enjoy all the same!**

**As usual, constructive reviews or compliments are welcome. Rude comments are not.**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Dream or Memory

_When Telma opened her eyes, she found herself on a small patch of stones surrounded by darkness; but then, the environment changed and she found herself barely managing to make out an intricate garden filled with ivy against the stone walls and willow trees swaying in what she could perceive to be a breeze going on. All around her, she could see enormous walls that gave off an intimidation that she didn't understand, towering around her with their dangerously sharp-looking spikes peering out from the top and the stone beasts that watched the garden like guard dogs for any indication of intruders._

_"__Where…am I? What is this?" she couldn't help asking herself._

_Then, she heard the sound of a child crying behind her, making her turn around to see a little girl no more than five walking while burying her face to hide her tears; Telma noticed that the small girl had her dark brown hair set in two simple braids and wore a black dress with a black hooded cloak and a lace veil over her face._

_She thought about reaching out to the child and find out what's wrong, but she got a surprise when she discovered that the child went straight past her like she didn't exist. When Telma noticed this, she couldn't help but be dumbfounded at what she saw. Was it an illusion? Or was she really in a dream?_

_"__What's the matter, Telma?"_

_The moment she registered that oddly familiar voice, Telma turned around to see a man who looks strikingly like the Josef she met in Salamand but wasn't as bald and had a younger look to him; he was bending down and extending his hands out to the little girl – who apparently happened to be called Telma. She watched as the little girl reached out one of her hands and wiped her eyes with the other, trying to look at the sympathetic man who must've heard her crying from somewhere._

_"__Josef…Mama was…" the little girl choked. But then it was noticed by Telma that parts of her reply were cut off as she spoke. "…said bad people killed Mama. After that…killed all the bad people that took her from us…"_

_When Telma heard this, she couldn't help but feel tears flowing from her; why was she feeling saddened by what she was hearing? Did she witness what was going on there before, or was she seeing something else? She still didn't know._

_Still, she watched as the younger Josef picked up the little girl and held her gently as she cried against his cloak, all the while rubbing her back gently to soothe her._

_"__There, there, Telma…it'll be alright, little one," the younger Josef reassured her softly, "If you need someone to talk to after this, you'll know what to do…"_

* * *

All of a sudden, Telma let out a gasp as she jolted awake; when she realized that she had just awoken from a dream, she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh and rub her head.

"What was that…? What did I see?" Telma asked herself.

She slowly sat up and looked around until she saw Minwu sleeping in another bed across from her. That was when she remembered where she was right now: she and the white mage were settled in Josef's abode while Firion and the others were sleeping at the inn; the major reason this arrangement was made was because Josef's wife and daughter insisted on allowing whoever cannot find room at the inn to stay with them for the night and can reunite with everyone else in the morning.

As she was the only person wide awake now, it allowed Telma to think over what vision she saw before she rudely woke up; try as she did, she couldn't make a connection on what that dream was about…or…was it a dream?

_"__If you need someone to talk to…you'll know what to do…"_

Those words rang in her mind over and over, making Telma wonder if she should speak with someone about her dream. Though, it begs the question: who should she talk to? She didn't want to bother Minwu, and frankly, she didn't want to take the chance of him trying to interrogate her. Firion is in another building, and she didn't want to trek out in the cold. So who could she turn to?

That was when she thought about Josef. Could she talk to him about it? For that matter, if she did tell him, would he believe her? When she thought back on it, he did act as if he was seeing a ghost the moment he laid eyes on her; if that's the case, then maybe he knows about the child and whether or not he knew her. She had to try.

Carefully, Telma slipped out of bed and carefully walked out of the guest room without arousing too much suspicion on her; with that out of the way, she slowly crept across the hall so that she wouldn't bother anyone else in the house and find someplace quiet where she could locate the man she wants to speak to. By the time she reached the stairway, she could barely make out the light coming from downstairs, making her cautiously walk down the stairs to find out who is down there at this hour.

"Good evening, Telma."

Immediately, she turned around to see her host seated near the fireplace as he was tending to the fire.

"Oh…it's just you, Josef," Telma sighed in relief.

Josef looked up toward her. "You look rather weary, young lady. Is there something wrong?"

When she heard this, she sighed deeply as she came towards the fireplace and took a seat across from him.

"Sorry…it's just I woke up after that strange dream I had," Telma replied as she rubbed her head, "and it's left me very confused."

He nodded, his gaze fixed on her like he's trying to figure out what is going on. "Tell me about your dream."

At first, Telma gave him a baffled look that made her assume he was jesting with her; but the hard gaze indicated that he was willing to listen intently to what she has to share with him, however absurd it may be. So, she let out a deep breath before she explained what she knew.

"Well…I found myself in what looked like a garden. And then, I saw a little girl wearing all black…she was crying. I didn't know why," she told about her vision, "And then I saw someone who looked like you in the dream, except…younger. He was asking the little girl what the matter was, and when she came over to him, the little girl told him about her mother being killed. But I couldn't make out who told her such things. All I knew was that the poor child was crying because she lost someone important, and the man tried to give her comfort. After that…I just woke up." She paused when she finished explaining. "…I might sound insane for asking, but would you know how to explain what I saw? I honestly don't know if it was just a dream, or if it's something else entirely."

For several minutes, Telma got no response from Josef after she told him what she knew. However, she did get an indication there is something on his mind, especially with the way he was rubbing his chin in deep thought. Was he thinking about what she was saying and trying to interpret it, or was there something else going on in his head? She couldn't tell, really. But then, his eyes gave her a look that showed intention on prying into her head and see what happens.

"Telma…I did ask you when you were first in town whether or not I met you before, you remember?" he asked.

She nodded nervously. "Yeah…and you kinda creeped me out on that, you know."

Josef nodded, knowing what she meant. "Indeed I did, and I deeply apologize about that. But I will not lie that I had a strange sense of déjà vu the moment I saw you." He paused. "I thought I was imagining things at first, but now that you've told me about this 'dream' you had, I'm starting to become convinced that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me."

"What do you mean…?" Telma asked, not sure whether or not to believe him.

The middle-aged warrior leaned in toward her and looked at her with a strong gaze. "I haven't spoken of this to anyone except the princess and the white wizard, but I want you to know that what I am about to tell you is the truth, and nothing but the truth. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. You understand?" Telma gave him a nod, allowing him to continue. "Once, I lived in Palamecia as one of the previous emperor's best warriors. When I was there, I knew his heir to the throne, and I knew of General Tristan. I even knew you, Telma."

Telma was taken aback at this. "Y…You did know me?"

"Yes. You were just a small child the last time I saw you," Josef replied somberly. He sighed deeply before he kept going. "Once you came to me when you were grieving over the loss of your mother, and I did what I could to ease the pain you were experiencing at so young an age. You were so young, and it was deeply tragic that someone important in your life was taken in a blink of an eye."

Telma nodded, trying her best to understand what she was being told. Though it did help her make the connection to her vision, she couldn't help but question how Josef came to be in the current position he is in, especially considering how he admits having issues with the empire and their ways.

"Then what brought you all the way out here, when you used to live there?" she couldn't help asking.

Josef sighed. "The nauseating atrocities that would occur in Palamecia were what brought me out here. Within the castle itself, I've seen my fair share of prisoners forced to suffer numerous tortures or enslaved to the will of the royal family. As for outside the castle, there's so much malice and vice that I'd rather not say what sickened me the most out there. The wickedness the men would reveal openly was one thing, but even the women were no different."

Telma shook her head in dismay at the new information she was hearing. Although she had barely heard about Palamecia from those she knew so well, she never thought that she'd learn that they were this depraved of individuals. Even so, whoever the emperor was, he must've been quite a sinful person himself along with anyone associated with him. Besides, there was no way she'd be connected to those who lived in that place.

So, then, given what she knows now thus far, what could she have been seeing? There was only one way for her to find out…

"Then, let me ask this, Josef," Telma said, unsure of what response she'll get, "Was that dream I told you about just a dream? Or was it…"

Josef looked her straight in the eye and replied, "Are you sure what you saw was a dream? Or is it a memory yet to resurface from the darkness? I have told you what I know, and have clarified that I do know you in the past. Whether or not you want to accept that truth is up to you to decide."

At that point, she was at a loss for words when asked those questions; Telma thought it was ridiculous that she did know the seasoned warrior, and yet his words were filled with honesty mixed with a knowledge that cannot be denied. If what he was saying to her is true and there are memories waiting for a chance to resurface, then perhaps she might be able to know more about herself; however, there was one thing that bothered her at the same time: what if the memories she has are more bad than good?

* * *

Unbeknownst to her, hidden within the dark corner upstairs, Minwu happened to be there, listening in on what was going on between the peculiar magic user and their host.

Moments after Telma left the room to collect her thoughts together, the white wizard woke up to find that she was nowhere to be found. Thinking that she might've gone off on her own for one reason or another, he got up and left the room with the intent of looking for her and finding out whether or not something was wrong. But when he did, he heard the faint voices of Telma and Josef, and they apparently were talking about something. What was going on, and what the conversation was about was something he had no idea about.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Minwu cautiously approached the edge of the stairs to hear what the personal conversation was about. At first, it sounded like Telma was trying to understand a dream she had, and was confiding to Josef about it since everyone else was asleep; but the moment he heard the man tell her his experience in Palamecia and question her on whether she really saw a dream or a memory, the white wizard was shocked at what he was hearing from above.

Many thoughts started to emerge from his mind as he processed this new information; but it also left him with questions that he wished he could answer: what is there about Telma that no one knows about? Was Firion hiding something about her? What does Palamecia have to do with her, for that matter? Overall, was there something that has been completely overlooked and really needs delving into?

As much as Minwu didn't want to admit it, he couldn't deny that there was something off about Telma; and even though it surprises him that he failed to notice it before when they had first met, it did bring back the memories of moments when she would ask questions.

After all, why else would she ask what the situation was? Why else would she ask what mythril is? For that matter, could she have asked other questions that no one thought to even dig deep into to find what was wrong? It never raised a lot of suspicion up until now; so, the one thing that had to be determined is what to do about that new development.

Though, there was one thing he knew would be the wrong things to do: asking Telma about her would make her either get defensive or would insist that she knows nothing. Guy would most likely remain silent, since he doesn't seem the talkative type. Plus, Maria would very likely insist there's nothing wrong with Telma and probably say that she's a very sheltered woman for one reason or another.

That just left only one person to interrogate on the matter: Firion.

Who else would be best to question? For Minwu, it was quite possible that he's the one being most defensive about Telma; after all, anytime she asked something, it seemed like he was the one person who could hide whatever secret she has without anyone realizing that he was lying or hiding anything.

The only thing that had to be done is find an opportunity to confront him, preferably when nobody is around to hear everything.


	10. Chapter 10: The Truth about Telma

**And now you get to learn how Telma came to be with Firion and his friends.**

**I'm gonna be honest: this one was a longer chapter than I thought. Not to mention, it took a while to write this through. But since this is one of the serious moments, I guess I had to take it seriously as well. I'm sure everyone's been there with their writings.**

**To HiddenXEmotion: Now, don't take it the wrong way. I noticed that you brought up Terra in FF6, and I'll be honest, she's one of those characters that I won't deny I like (sometimes I just wanna give her a hug). And though I haven't played the game myself, I do know the plot; and I won't deny that there are characters that I like or tolerate in there and there are moments I find amusing (like the opera house scene and the option of having Sabin suplex a freaking TRAIN in battle). That being said, I do have ONE THING in there that I just CAN'T STAND AT ALL (and I frankly find more overrated than Mr. Alien Super Soldier!). If you want to know what I'm taking about, PM me about it. Bring a flame shield, just in case, though, because I won't hold back on my opinions.**

**Constructive reviews are welcome. Rude comments are not.**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames.**

* * *

Chapter 10: The Truth about Telma

When morning arrived in Salamand, the skies were brighter than they originally were when the rebels arrived to sabotage the mining of the mythril. Though, as great as it was to see that the town has been freed from oppression and suffering at the hands of the empire, they had to leave as soon as they could so that the Wild Rose can be properly equipped and prepared for their assault and increase defenses against their dangerous enemies.

On the bright side of the departure, Josef and his family were able to see them off as they were about to leave.

"I am sorry that I couldn't help with the mythril, but I hope that could make it up to you in the future," Josef said as he led them to the entrance of the town.

"You don't have to apologize so much. What matters is that your family and the people of Salamand are safe now," Minwu reassured him, "and with the mythril in our hands, it might help us prepare for our enemies."

"Though, I'm pretty sure if something does come up, we'd let you know," Telma admitted, knowing that there's other problems to deal with.

"Yeah, maybe we could say we found more loot from the baddies and wreaked some serious havoc on 'em before they knew what hit 'em," Nikolas interjected eagerly.

"Well, then, we hope we'll meet all of you again," Josef's wife, Audrina, said politely. "It'd be a relief to know you're alright once in a while."

"Come back soon!" Nelly called out jovially.

With what mythril they could carry back with them (and most likely knowing that the rest will be delivered to Altair very shortly), the rebels were well on their way back to the base with quite a trip ahead of them. Throughout their travel, they were able to trek southward back to the place of refuge with little problems with the monsters out in the wilds.

But unbeknownst to the newest members of the group, the white wizard was mostly silent as he kept his eyes on them with suspicion. That night when he heard what Telma was saying without anyone else knowing about it kept bothering him to no end, repeatedly making him question the honesty of the new recruits and mentally trying to determine when he should speak with Firion about the matter.

"Something wrong?" Guy suddenly asked him.

Minwu snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "It's nothing…nothing to worry about."

Despite this reassurance that nothing's wrong, Telma could easily notice that there's something off about their travelling white wizard; she had a strong feeling of awareness that he was watching them intently, like he's trying to find a hole in their defenses.

"Hey, Firion, have you noticed that Minwu's been acting rather odd ever since leaving Salamand?" Telma asked quietly.

Firion looked at her with surprise. "What brought that on, Telma?"

"I dunno…it just feels disconcerting," Telma replied as she shivered a bit.

"I hope it's nothing serious because we haven't done anything that would arouse any suspicion, haven't we?" Maria agreed.

"You're just worrying too much, that's what it is," Nikolas reassured them as he skipped ahead.

Oh, how wrong everyone would be…

* * *

By the time they arrived in Poft, everyone was in need of rest before moving on to Altair and finishing their job. Thankfully, since they had just arrived at a bustling port town, the people there were quite hospitable to them and had spare rooms to rest for the night before setting off again. And, added bonus, rather than continuing on foot, it might be possible for them to hitch a ride on the ship rather than keep making exhaustive treks across rigorous terrains with potentially more dangerous wild creatures.

When night started to arrive in the sky, the group was starting to settle in and prepare to sleep before continuing their return to Altair.

"Oh, man, I swear my feet are really screaming at me to stop moving for a long while," Telma said as she sighed in relief.

"Well, we should consider ourselves fortunate that we'll get some sleep before we set off once again," Maria replied, "It'll probably be a while before any real rest after all we've been through so far."

Nikolas groaned at this. "Aw, c'mon, don't be such a killjoy! Keep your mind in the now, and savor the relief. I know I always enjoyed what I was given while I could."

Firion couldn't help shaking his head in disbelief. "Nikolas, I can never understand how on earth you manage to act so optimistic in times like these, especially since everyone else has most likely become either cynical or hostile. Last I checked, you mentioned that you had something rough happen to you before."

Everyone could see the thief's expression darken as he answered, "Sometimes there are things you don't want to think about. The hell that I experienced was the last memory I want to keep…"

"Firion."

At the sound of Minwu's voice, everyone turned around to see him near the door; but his physical expression indicated that he had something on his mind, and since he only said Firion's name, that means something.

"What is it, Minwu?" Firion asked, puzzled.

"We need to talk…privately," the white wizard replied, keeping his uncannily serious voice.

Firion looked to his friends as they showed faces that asked 'what the heck is going on', which he had no answer to. But Telma's face had a more uneasy impression on her, one that only her fellow Fynn civilians could immediately understand; she was afraid that something has happened that she wasn't aware of, and that everyone else wasn't in the know about back in Salamand.

Although he had a suspicion that something was off, Firion couldn't put his mind as to what reason their comrade would want to have a discussion with him alone.

"…Okay, then, where should we talk?" he asked cautiously.

"Preferably outside the inn, where no one in there could hear us," Minwu replied, straight to the point.

Firion looked toward his friends, and then back. "Well…if you say so, then alright."

As the two men left, everyone else was left dumbfounded at what had happened and couldn't help questioning what on earth was going on that they couldn't understand.

"What was that about?" Nikolas asked, clueless about the situation.

"White wizard talk strange. Seem suspicious," Guy answered, suspecting something was wrong.

Maria turned toward Guy in confusion. "Why would he be suspicious? We haven't done anything wrong so far, haven't we?"

"I don't know, Maria…What I would like to know is why Minwu wants to talk with Firion, and not with any of us," Telma said as she felt fear creeping through her spine.

* * *

Outside of the inn, Firion cautiously followed Minwu outside, uncertain as to what subject would've required his attention; it was rather odd, considering how they were doing quite well so far, especially with his friends with him the whole time. Did something happen that made the healer wish to speak with him personally? To his knowledge, he had no problem explaining information that was new to them, especially Telma; plus, he was very savvy to the current situation at hand, and with the affairs of the empire.

So, what was going on that needed his attention? There weren't any spies or anything, and they haven't had too many problems in their missions, so what is it? When they were a reasonable distance from the inn, both of them stopped by the bridge and were about to delve into what the matter is.

"Okay, Minwu, is there something going on that I needed to know about?" Firion questioned, unsure of what to expect.

Minwu was silent for a moment, but then answered, "Normally, I am not the type of person who would question the affairs of others unless there is a cause for concern. But there is one question that has haunted my mind after much contemplation on all that has happened: what have I overlooked on our new comrades? I'll confess that this question came up after I learned something that I never thought I'd hear about." He turned and gave Firion a stern, hard gaze as he folded his arms. "So, I'll stop beating around the bush and come straight to the point: Is there something about Telma you haven't told us?"

In an instant, Firion was taken aback at the question. "W…What are you talking about, Minwu?"

But Minwu won't back down. "Don't play dumb with me, Firion. While we were staying in Salamand, I heard your peculiar friend speaking with Josef – which does shame me, I will admit that – and from what I was able to learn, I could mostly understand that there is a conflict in memory. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to why this is so on her part? Or, at the very least, explain to me what it is you and your friends failed to notify us about?"

The young rebel, realizing that lying was out of the question, hung his head in defeat upon knowing that their carefully guarded defenses on Telma had been cracked.

Firion sighed as he finally responded, "Alright…alright, before you make any verdict on us or on Telma, the only thing I would like to ask is for you to hear me out. We weren't sure whether or not we could trust anyone with her affairs."

The white wizard relented. "Very well, then, let's start from the beginning: how did Telma come to be with you and your friends?"

Firion scratched his head for a moment, trying to figure out where to start confessing everything he could spill out; after a moment of contemplation, he figured out where to start.

"Well…it was two years ago, when I was out hunting with Leon and his father. At that time, we were making things easier for us by hunting in order to spare us of high costs," Firion explained, "But as we were trekking the forest, what I found in there was what moved our lives in a whole different direction…"

* * *

_Flashback: Two years ago…_

_Outside of the town, Firion followed closely behind Leon and their father as they cautiously moved through the greens that barely stretched around the path they were meant to stay on during their search for food. It was as peaceful as it could get, with few species that would indicate hostility, if at all; of course, given how Fynn is well-guarded against the lesser dangers that could be out there and the monsters are few and far between (not to mention, rather easy to pick off)._

_"__You'd better stay close. There's no knowing what's lurking behind the shades," their father warned cautiously._

_However, as he kept moving, a strange sound caught his attention, and Firion started to wonder as to what could be going on. When his curiosity got the better of him, he carefully strayed off from the path and followed the chittering noises and peeked past the branches of one of the bushes; what he found beyond it shocked him._

_There was a small group of goblins surrounding a female figure sprawled on the ground face-first, most likely bickering on which one of them gets dibs. He could make out that the female was dressed in an ornate fashion with her royal purple gown bedecked in elaborate embroidery and wearing jeweled accessories in various places, almost as though she were a princess of some sort; not only that, but even her own hair was decorated with strings of gold twining in the right places. However, he realized that she didn't seem to be moving too much; she wasn't dead, but appeared to be unconscious; was she knocked out, perhaps? Or was she out cold before the goblins circled her?_

_How could he tell?_

_Still, it didn't sit well for him to just let those pests harass her while the poor girl was left vulnerable in the wilds; he had to do something, but he needed help._

_"__Father! Leon! There's an unconscious girl, over here!" he called out._

_Within mere moments, Leon and his father arrived on the scene and got a good look at what he had found. Sure enough, the both of them were shocked that a lone person was possibly in danger._

_Aghast at the sight, Leon turned toward his birth father and asked, "What do we do, Father? Should we help her?"_

_"__If those beasts mean harm to the poor thing, then we'd best be quick about it," their father replied as he readied his bow._

_With a well-aimed shot, one of the arrows struck down the nearest goblin within the vicinity; this, in turn, caused all the little critters to start bumbling around in chaotic confusion. Firion and Leon took advantage of this, and quickly struck down the goblins with their blades until what few survived fled in fear for their lives._

_When they were gone, the three men immediately hurried over to check on the unconscious girl and make certain that nothing serious happened to her. As their father checked for any indication of life, Firion lifted her up so he could see the face of the stranger who mysteriously appeared near the kingdom. Although it was rather awkward for him to admit, he couldn't help being mesmerized by the beauty and youth of this girl, and yet even he could tell from the color of her skin that she had been mostly indoors for who knows how long; even so, it was a wonder as to how such a person found herself out here, and it hurt him to think of what she might've gone through to suffer like this._

_"__How is she?" Leon asked._

_"__It seems our peculiar stranger is still alive," their father answered, "But how did she get here? And for that matter, what happened to her in the first place?"_

_Before anyone could make a guess as to what could've happened, a small groan came out, making all three look down to see the girl regaining consciousness, but the most she could do was barely move her eyes open long enough to barely see what she could._

_"…__Where…? What…?" she questioned faintly._

_"__A-Are you alright?" Firion asked, worried for her._

_"…__Where…am…" she couldn't say anything else as she lost consciousness again._

_Firion checked to make sure nothing's wrong, but found relief moments after when he found that she was only out cold once again; perhaps she didn't have enough strength to recover from whatever she went through. But when he examined her again, he discovered that she had a dark bruise on the left side of her head, most likely because something hit her on her head there; but what could've done that? It didn't look like there were signs of a bludgeon, otherwise she would've released blood from enough force; in other words, the goblins didn't harm her. So, how did she get that injury?_

_"__Did you find something, Firion?" Leon asked abruptly._

_"__She seems to have a bruise on her head," Firion replied when he looked up, "Perhaps she hit her head somewhere, and it rendered her unconscious."_

_"__The only way that would've happened is if she trekked someplace dangerous, and made a misstep on the wrong terrain," their father speculated._

_"__Could we bring her home with us? She might need help, and…" Firion faltered, trying to figure out what should be done. "…Well, wouldn't we want to find out what we can about her when she wakes up?"_

_"__Well, since we did find her in the first place, it would be best to see what we can do," Leon agreed, "Mother might be able to revive her, and when she does, we'll figure out what to do about her from there. Who knows? Maybe she could be someone important that either got lost, or was separated from close colleagues."_

_The two lads watched as their father nodded in agreement. "Alright, we'll take her with us. We'll see if we can get help and the sooner the better."_

* * *

"…We took her home at full haste. We couldn't just leave her out there for the beasts, or we'd shame ourselves," Firion said as he continued his explanation, "When we got home and explained what we found out there, Mother immediately took control and began working to revive her as best as she could. Even Maria tried to help whenever she had the opportunity. Then, word got out to Guy, and he, too, got curious as to the stranger we found."

Minwu rubbed his chin in contemplation as he listened to everything, slowly coming to understand the oddity of the past.

"That is very peculiar; indeed…to think that she ended up near the kingdom of Fynn just like that," Minwu admitted, "When she did regain consciousness, what were you able to learn about her? Surely, you figured out where she lived, at least."

Firion shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, no, we didn't."

* * *

_Flashback: Two years ago, hours after the discovery…_

_As night started to creep across the sky, Firion sat by the bed diligently, watching for any sign that their guest would wake up. Although he wasn't sure why he was anxious to see her open her eyes or what it is about her that fascinated him so, he couldn't help questioning where she was from and came to be near Fynn. He had heard of different types of nobles and royals who live high lives, sure, but there was something different about that girl; he wished he knew more of her._

_It felt rather ridiculous for him to think that he was sort of smitten by her, but he was able to keep that feeling at bay since he desired to gather knowledge first before deciding whether it's worth getting to know her more._

_But then – lo and behold – he got a surprise when he heard the groaning sound, and turned to see the girl waking up; this time, she was able to fully regain her senses and observe the environment around her. Of course, it was very easy to see that she was confused and rather uneasy about the strange place she was in, and had no idea what she was doing here._

_"__Are you feeling okay?" was the first thing he asked her._

_She turned to him with a confused face. "…Where am I? What am I doing here?"_

_Not wanting to frighten her, Firion explained to her what he could. "You're in the kingdom of Fynn. We found you out in the forest near the town. You were unconscious."_

_She tilted her head, still having trouble understanding the situation. "…What was I doing there?"_

_Before he could explain everything, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and found his adopted parents coming up the stairs to find out what was going on. When they saw that the young lady was awake, a wave of relief flowed into the room._

_"__Good evening, young miss. We're sorry for bothering you, but we wanted to make sure you're alright now," Mother said as she came in to check on her, "You had everyone very worried ever since you were brought in here. Why, even after making sure you were at least comfortable, Firion wouldn't leave your side the whole afternoon!"_

_Firion blushed in embarrassment. "Mother…! I-I was just…!"_

_"__Oh, calm down. Your mother was just teasing you," Father said as he shook his head._

_As this was going on, Firion couldn't help but notice the girl watching everyone's actions and reactions, and that she was having trouble understanding how the new people surrounding her were being so good and gentle to her. She certainly was a stranger feeling completely out of place in the different surroundings._

_Once things have calmed down, Maria, Guy, and Leon entered the room as well to see the new guest and find out what's going on._

_"__Hello there. How are you feeling?" Maria asked sweetly._

_The girl was quiet for a moment before answering hesitantly, "I'm…okay…I guess?"_

_"__That's good to know. We were hoping to ask you some questions before we decide what to do with you," Leon told her, "We'll need to know about you in order to know whether or not you need some help."_

_"__What do you want to know?" the girl asked._

_"__Well, could you tell us who you are first?" Firion asked, "You know, your name?"_

_The girl held her left hand to her head as she frowned a bit, scratching her head a bit; everyone noticed that she seemed to be trying to dig into her mind to find her answer._

_"…__My name…" she murmured. "Um…It's…T…Telma. My name's Telma."_

_Well, it wasn't much to work with as far as everyone was concerned, but it was a start. Now that they have a name, they can speak to her in a normal sense._

_"__Telma, is it? Well, I'd say that's pretty good so far," Father said, impressed that they got something. "Now, then, Telma, would you mind telling us where you were born?"_

_That was when they found themselves with a serious problem. The moment she was asked that, Telma tried to think about that question; but there were indications from her expressions that something was wrong with her as she took longer to answer the question._

_"…__I…I don't know," Telma answered glumly._

_That surprised everyone. She didn't know where she was born? That can't be right._

_"__Then…do you know where you came from?" Maria asked, worried about the situation._

_Telma shook her head sadly. "No…I don't remember."_

_"__Telma have family?" Guy asked._

_She shook her head again. "I don't remember my family."_

_Any hopes of learning more about their mysterious lady were rapidly starting to wane as they came to the realization that something was completely wrong with her. Firion was especially disappointed, because he was hoping that if they learned everything about her, they could return her to wherever she was from – or at least to whoever lost her and might be looking for her without knowing her whereabouts._

_Then, their father suddenly spoke up with a serious tone. "I was afraid of this…It seems our guest has a severe case of amnesia."_

_Maria and Leon looked over to their father. "What do you mean?" Maria asked as Leon questioned, "Amnesia?"_

_"__It would appear that she lost all of her memories except for her name," he replied as he folded his arms in contemplation, "I wasn't sure what to make of this unusual situation up until now, but now I'm convinced that something caused her loss of memory."_

_Firion looked over toward them, unsure as to what thoughts are running through. "What do we do, then? Is there anything we can do for Telma?"_

_"__Well, we could go through town first thing in the morning," their mother suggested, "and see of anyone in town could identify her. If that fails, we can see if there are any posts on missing people and whether she's one of those on the posters. And if that doesn't work…well, we'll figure out what to do when we get there."_

_Maria nodded in agreement, eager to do whatever she can to help on their mission to investigate Telma's origins; even Guy seemed willing to try and lend a hand. But Leon, on the other hand, was not so sure about it._

_"__I don't think anyone within Fynn would know about her," Leon said with skepticism. "She doesn't even look like an average villager, much less someone from the countryside. How is anyone going to be able to recognize her?"_

_"__Well, we won't be able to know unless we try," Firion answered defensively, almost as though he was protecting Telma. "Even if nobody else knows who she is, we can always let her stay with us until we can find a chance to search for her native home, or her family at the very least."_

_There was no arguing at this point; even if the chances of finding more info were slim to none in probability, every chance had to be taken to see what could be found. If push comes to shove, at least they could do their new guest a favor and look after her a while longer…_

* * *

"…The next day, Leon and I went out with Father, and we brought Telma with us throughout the town to find someone who could identify her," Firion finished up his story. He shook his head sadly. "But ultimately, no one could identify Telma's origins. None of the missing person's posts had an image of her either. So, we decided that since we couldn't find her family or determine her birthplace, we legally took her in and looked after her as though she were our own."

As he soaked up this new information, Minwu came to understand that the matter regarding their friend was certainly far different from what he was thinking before. But he was more surprised that she showed up under mysterious circumstances with no means to pinpoint what caused her to appear in Fynn of all places.

"I will be honest; this is the most peculiar story I've ever heard in my life," Minwu confessed, "However, is there an explanation as to why you failed to tell us about her conditions?"

"Well, about that…After we adopted her, Father and Mother left all of us with one strict warning: we were **not** to tell any stranger about Telma's amnesia under any circumstances without a good reason," Firion admitted hesitantly, "I would like to believe that they wanted to prevent unfamiliar strangers from taking advantage of her conditions, and they didn't know who they could trust with this difficult information."

Finally, it all made sense for Minwu: early on, he and his sister and Princess Hilda were strangers during their first meeting, so not explaining Telma's situation at that point was understandable. And when she started asking questions like she didn't understand what was going on, her closest friends had to come up with an excuse as to why she would ask things that other people should've known in the first place. After hearing all of this, it made him start feeling guilty for prying into affairs that shouldn't concern him so much; but even so, when they do return to Altair, the princess will have to be in the know as well. Perhaps if this was discussed with her, they could think of a way to help their spellcasting comrade.

"…I see. In that case, Firion, I will not pry in too much now that I found out what I wanted to know," Minwu said after a moment of silence. "However, when we reach Altair, we will have to inform the princess about Telma. We cannot keep her Highness in the dark about it."

Firion hung his head in defeat, knowing there was no way out of it. "If you say so…but then that means your sister will need to know as well. And, personally, I would like to request that any judgment on Telma should wait until after they are given that information." He paused. "Until we do see them, please don't say anything about this to anyone. I still want to protect Telma. That means you have to be mum on her issues around strangers as well. Okay?"

Fortunately, the white mage nodded in understanding, knowing that since he now knows, he has to watch his tongue afterwards. It will be tough, but he has to honor his comrade's wishes.

"Alright, then, I'll keep quiet on it for the time being," Minwu agreed, "We'd best head back before anyone wonders why we're out here. For that matter, we don't want to run into any potential spies."

Without another word, both men hurried back to the inn so that they wouldn't arouse too much suspicion on anyone who is still outside. But as they did, Firion couldn't help feeling rather uneasy, like someone's watching them; though, he couldn't comprehend what is was. All the same, he had other matters to worry about: what would Hilda think when word gets out to her regarding his friend? _I hope she'll understand that Telma's an innocent person_, he thought nervously.


	11. Chapter 11: Updates and Mythril

**How would you readers feel if you were put in Telma's shoes? I know I'd not like the idea that people know something's wrong with me.**

**Well, anyways, things are getting interesting between Leon and Tristan, aren't they?**

**Hope you like.**

**As usual, constructive reviews are welcome. Rude comments are not.**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Updates and Mythril

_What's taking them so long?_ That was the first question that came to Telma's mind as she sat wide awake in her room, waiting for any indication for their return.

When Minwu suddenly told Firion that he wanted to speak with him alone, she couldn't help questioning what was going on that made him wish to do so. Then again, he had been acting quite off lately, and his eyes had been constantly on her and her friends; he was almost behaving as though they were hiding something. He couldn't have suspected something out of place with them, would he? It wasn't like she did something offensive or gave the impression of an enemy; she just had a problem that didn't receive a possible solution.

Just then, she heard the door open, and Telma looked to see Firion come in; but quickly she noticed that he had an uneasy expression on his face. And whenever he had an uneasy face that indicated he had been caught in something he wasn't proud of, that was not a good sign.

"Firion…What happened?" she asked cautiously.

The moment she asked that, she watched him approach her and sit next to her; but then, he hung his head shamefully, which warned her that something occurred between him and Minwu.

"Firion, what's wrong?" Telma asked nervously, "What did Minwu want to talk to you about?"

Her friend looked up a bit, and replied with a hint of dread, "He knows."

Telma gasped in shock. "What? What do you mean?"

"He knows what we've been hiding. The reason Minwu wanted to talk to me was because he wanted to know what we hadn't told him and the princess about you," Firion clarified. He let out a sigh as he pinched his forehead. "I tried to avoid it, but he wouldn't let it go until I confessed everything. I had to tell him about it all – the day we discovered you, what condition you were in, how we tried to trace your origin to no avail, and that we were instructed not to say anything about your amnesia to anyone."

Poor Telma was shocked when she heard this. "What on earth could've driven that wizard to do that? It's not like I wasn't lying to him, and there's no way he would've suspected about it unless he…" That was when she thought about her conversation with Josef, and her face paled. "Oh, no, did he hear me talking to Josef that night before in Salamand?"

Firion nodded. "From what I could understand…he did."

Oh, how her strength disappeared when she slumped back on her bed! Telma was utterly stunned with the realization that she had been exposed as she had dreaded for two whole years. Now what are they going do? Now that Minwu knows about it, what are the chances that anyone else who hears about this will ask questions?

Then, when she least expected it, she felt Firion hold her closely in an attempt to calm her down, but his grip also indicated that he was very sorry that the secret has been spilled. Though it did keep her from losing her cool, she still felt very frightened; it meant that now that one person knows, once this information gets to Hilda and Mingzhu, what are the odds that someone will ask questions, and subsequently want to know something about her?

"I'm very sorry, Telma. It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Firion apologized sadly, "I was hoping that we'd be able to search for a solution without attracting too much attention, but…I guess that won't be feasible now."

Telma couldn't help asking, "So…what do we do now? Are we going to have to spill out everything to the princess?"

"Probably," Firion replied, "but we won't know until we return to Altair. Don't think about it for now. Get some rest while you can, okay?"

Telma nodded, giving Firion the prompt to let her be so they could rest; however, even though everyone else was able to succumb to sleep, it wasn't so simple on Telma's part. Her mind was still on the shock that Minwu discovered her problems, and there was no telling what will become of her afterwards. She honestly thought that things were complicated enough when she heard about Tristan searching for his daughter and that there is an empire that seeks to conquer the world under the watch of an emperor; not to mention, with Nikolas talking about his experience with the people in the empire, and Josef telling her that he did know her before he left and settled in Salamand with his family.

Like Firion, she could only hope that no one questions her loyalty when her information gets spilled out…

* * *

As the construction of the airship Dreadnought continued to proceed, Leon examined some of the smithies to make sure that all of the materials are being made as they should and the engineers were able to fulfill the mechanical expectations. Ironically, even though he did learn that Borghen was going to be supposedly overseeing the completion of the warship, he was even more surprised when he learned from Tristan that the piggish oaf was only there to simply watch while they kept working as planned.

There were some times that he couldn't understand how on earth the emperor is able to deliver mixed messages that would perplex the mind of even the greatest prodigies of any trade; but then again, considering how he's only been involved with the empire for…how long? Was it weeks? Or was it months? Regardless, there was no way he would've been alive were it not for the old general keeping him under his tutelage; granted, it was still hard for him to know what Tristan is thinking since he still doesn't know a lot about him, but nonetheless – as strange as it sounds – he was certain that the veteran knight was treating him as more than just another recruit. But for now, he cannot say for sure.

"Is everything proceeding on schedule?"

Leon turned around to find Tristan coming into the caves with a map and a blueprint copy on hand; but he quickly noticed that the aged knight seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open as he kept rubbing them to keep himself awake, making the young knight develop concern on the matter.

"Yes, everything is still proceeding as they should. The smiths are still operating, and the engineers are doing their job," Leon replied as he watched carefully.

Tristan nodded as he set the documents down on the table. "Good, good. At least we know that we're getting somewhere. His Majesty will certainly be pleased about this."

"That sounds like good news, but what of you?" Leon asked, a twinge of concern peeking out, "You look like you could collapse at any moment."

At first, Tristan didn't understand what he was talking about; that is, until he slightly stumbled against the wall and had to put his hand up to steady himself. That was when it became clear that there is a sign of exhaustion going through his body.

"Well…now I know what you're asking. I apologize if I've been worrying you, but so much has been going on," Tristan replied, "But I can assure you that I'm not dying, if that's what you're wondering."

"I don't mean to be impertinent, but you should consider getting some rest. If you collapse like this, what will happen to you afterwards?" Leon insisted sternly, "If it'll help you, I'll just pick up your slack and keep everything operating until you're ready to complete your tasks."

"Really, young man, what made you…?" Tristan was about to object, but when he saw how serious Leon was; he relented as he let the young man help him up. "Very well, then…if you want me to rest for a bit, then I shall do that. But you have to uphold your part of the bargain while I do so, you understand?"

"I know. You don't have to tell me twice," Leon answered.

Though it was rather tough to hold up someone with different physicality than him, he could notice that the elder knight – for all his physical capabilities – has a little trouble taking care of himself as he should; it did make Leon wonder how on earth he was able to live as long as he has despite his tired-looking appearance and his ignorance of his health. True, he had a feeling that Tristan has been in service to the emperor for decades, but did he have to overdo his own job like that?

Just then, he heard the old knight let out a dry chuckle. "What a strange sense of déjà vu…I thought it was insane enough that his Majesty, when he was a prince then, would chastise me for not taking advantage of sleep when I had the opportunity. I've been so dedicated to aiding the family that I sometimes forget to think of my own health. And now look: here I am being forced to rest by a young man who isn't of Palamecian heritage."

Leon looked over to Tristan in confusion. "It's not your first time having these problems?"

"Oh, no, it's an old habit that I just can't shake off," Tristan replied wearily. He let out a sad sigh. "If Marta were here, she'd probably scold me for my brinks of sleep deprivation as well…"

But then, the old knight fell silent again, his thoughts wandering far off. As much as Leon wanted to ask who he was talking about, he thought it best if he waited on that question until he is ready to speak about it. Even so…he couldn't help wondering who this Marta was. Is this person a friend or something else entirely?

He had to shake off those thoughts for the time being since he was able to locate the camps where the engineers would take their turns resting as their shifts change with the labor schedule. Since the town itself wasn't too inviting due to the wary behavior of the townsfolk, he didn't want to take chances at leaving Tristan in the hands of the innkeeper, if for the fear of assassins.

Out of all the tents set up, he was able to find one established as the medical tent for the ill or injured during work on the airship; he thought it would be best to keep the tired knight in there so he could rest without any potential threats from Bafsk to worry about. As Leon entered inside, the physician inside noticed him coming in and shook his head in dismay at the sight of the general nodding off to sleep.

"Let me guess, sir…General Tristan is experiencing insomnia again, is that right?" the physician questioned with a knowing look.

Leon nodded. "Yeah…seems like that." He started to lead Tristan to one of the nearest cots he could find. "Has this happened before?"

"Oh, yes. The good general was quite the workaholic ever since he became part of the military's highest ranks, sometimes to the point where he'd neglect important health instructions," the physician answered as he fetched a phial of powder and mixed them into a brew. "I certainly remember how he met someone who was able to keep him from going overboard, and whenever he did would chastise him for it and force him to get back on track. A big shame she ain't here anymore to do so…" He shook his head. "Ever since that young mage died, Tristan just slipped right into those habits again. Can you believe it? It's a wonder how he's even alive today after all of the things he does to himself…"

"Who was the young mage? Are you referring to Marta…whoever that is?" Leon questioned, his curiosity getting the best of him.

The physician gave the young knight a strange look that seemed secretive. "I'm sorry, but only the Emperor or the General can answer that question. It's not my place to tell, since the most I heard were bits and pieces. If you want to know, you can either ask his Majesty when you return to Palamecia or you can wait until the General has recovered from his ailment to ask that question."

That was rather strange for him to hear. It appeared to Leon that there are secrets hidden with the people involved with Palamecia, and said secrets might be rather sensitive subjects. Is it possible that Tristan's questions about Telma and this person called Marta have a connection with the royal family other than the general? Or should he not pry in too deeply, lest he be exposed to the dark recesses of the lives of those he shouldn't be getting nosy about?

* * *

Back with the rebel group returning to Altair, come first light of the morning, they were able to hitch themselves a ride on a ship setting sail to Paloom; granted, it did require a few gil to be able to access the ship for travel, but at the very least the group was able to be of help while they waited for any sign of land and combing the area for sea monsters or pirates roaming about the waters.

After a couple days out at sea and arriving in Paloom come the afternoon, the rest of the trip was as normal as it could get; just as the twilight had reached through the skies, the party finally returned to Altair – and are greeted by a pensive Mingzhu, who was watching from the entrance to the town.

"Well, look who's finally come home at last," she commented, "And who's the new guy with you? He looks like a common thief from the getup he's got on him."

"Hi! The name's Nikolas, expert thief," the jovial thief introduced himself.

Firion rolled his eyes. "We stumbled upon him on our way to Salamand, and got into a scuffle with him…but now he's tagging alongside us until he finds whatever it is he's looking for. So far, he has been of help to us, so there's not much to worry about."

Mingzhu nodded, not wanting to bother prying for details. "Right…Anyways, you guys got the mythril, right?"

"Yes, we do. We brought what we could," Maria answered, "The rest should be on their way in a couple of days or so."

The female white mage nodded in approval. "Wow, not too bad, I'd say." Then, she turned to Minwu. "Okay, Brother, I hope you've got something interesting to share after all the trouble you went through. And need I remind you that I'm still mad at you for leaving me here to deal with those cocky amateurs who call themselves 'recruits'."

"We can discuss about those matters later, my sister. For now, I need you to help Firion and the others deliver the mythril to our blacksmith, Tobul," Minwu replied. "I have important matters to address to her Highness."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," Mingzhu deadpanned as she took the mythril from her brother. "Besides, I need something to clear my head after all of that."

Unbeknownst to her, though, when the white wizard mentioned that he had business with the princess, Firion and Telma paled a little from dread while everyone else was looking toward them and wondering what could be bothering them. None of their compatriots were aware that something happened the night before, but it wouldn't be long until the news was leaked out; if anything, the twosome that were afraid had the feeling that Minwu was intending on giving away what information he had collected to Princess Hilda.

"Hey, what are you guys standing around for? If you wanna get some better gear so you have a fighting chance, we'd better go," Mingzhu snapped them out of it.

Telma was the first to clear the air the only way she knew how. "So…do you know where the blacksmith is? And who is this Tobul, for that matter?"

"Tobul is Altair's resident blacksmith. If anyone knows how to tamper with mythril for their use, it's that old kook," Mingzhu answered as she led them through the town, "But don't say that to his face, though. I made that mistake last time, and you don't wanna know what happened afterwards."

"Wow, and I thought I was quite a troublemaker…" Nikolas murmured.

"Don't start," Firion warned.

While Minwu went towards the rebels' base of operations to give his reports, Mingzhu led the others to the blacksmith in order to deliver the mythril to the man who'd work on the minerals needed to have a fighting chance against the empire. They didn't have to look far since the smithy was nestled alongside the armory where anyone would get the necessary weapons and armor for protection against dangerous enemies.

At the smithy was a man much older than Josef, but unlike the humble man, his age was more evident with his stringy white hair flying all around with bits of burns in a few places and his face bearing much wrinkles since he was past his prime. Like any good blacksmith, he was wearing sturdier clothes that would allow him to work safely in the midst of the scorching flames and the metals that are scattered around his workplace. No doubt, this was Tobul, the man who could work on the mythril they have found back in Salamand and liberated for themselves.

When he saw who his visitors were; Tobul raised a brow and asked, "What could you want with me? I'm just an old man."

"You're the man called Tobul, aren't you? We have some mythril that Mingzhu said you could use to forge equipment with," Telma questioned as she presented the metals.

The instant he saw the sheen of the precious metal inside the pouch, the old man's eyes lightened up drastically as he adjusted his lenses to take a look.

"Ho, ho! That's mythril! I've been waiting for the chance to work this metal for as long as I could remember," he said excitedly, "Alright, leave the rest to me! Swords, armor, you name it, and I'll start pounding it out. It's been too long since I last swung my hammer."

"Well, you're in luck because they've got plenty for you and your boys to work on, with plenty more on their way," Mingzhu added.

This really perked the old blacksmith when he took this news. "Is that so? Well, just drop them off by the stands and I'll get right to it. Now you all should get some well-earned rest, won't ya? I've got a lot of work to do, and it's gonna take a few days."

Firion shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."

"That's fine by me," Maria agreed.

"Either way, we've probably got other matters to deal with," Telma added. Then, a shiver ran down her spine. "Although, there might be a few things I don't want to get into…"

* * *

Inside the rebel base, Minwu knew that he had to present his reports to the princess, but even with the knowledge he had right now, he couldn't help remembering Firion's guilt over the secrets that had been kept from them. It was rather strange to have to hear the story behind a girl who appeared to be sheltered when she was actually void of memory of her past life, and while he wished he knew more of her situation and how she ended up in Fynn in the first place, he knew that not even her guardians could answer the questions that have yet to be solved.

Still, he made a promise to tell Hilda only when they returned to Altair, and that he would have to let his sister be in the know as well; he knew that Mingzhu would be outraged if information was kept from her.

As he entered the room where the lady was waiting for him, the princess – who happened to be speaking with the physician regarding the conditions of her beloved father – shifted her attention and, upon realizing who it is, quietly asked for a moment alone before turning her attention to him.

"Minwu, I trust you and the new recruits have secured the mythril?" she asked.

"Yes, we have, your Highness. As we speak, what we were able to bring back is entrusted to our blacksmith," Minwu replied as he bowed respectfully. But then he stiffened a bit. "However, there is a particular matter that I believe you need to know about, and it has to do with one of our recruits."

The princess showed a confused look. "What is it? Is there something suspicious about one of those children we weren't aware of?"

This was it. Now that he has her attention, there was no turning back.

"Back in Salamand, I regret to say that I overheard a conversation between Josef and Telma, one of our new members. Something in their conversation bothered me: she confided in him about her peculiar issue, something to do with bearing no memories of her past," Minwu replied carefully, "I wasn't able to ask about this until we stopped in Poft, and spoke with Firion about the matter. I didn't want to press him, but from I could gather from him, the young lady they have with her was discovered with a severe case of amnesia and they had kept this a secret out of concern of who they could trust with such sensitive information."

Now Hilda was very curious about this. "…Are you certain about this? If what you are saying is true, then why didn't they tell us about her from the beginning? Is it because they didn't trust us?"

"That might be my best guess. However, I think it would be best if we spoke with the four at the first opportunity," Minwu suggested.

The princess nodded in agreement, showing both curiosity and unease on her face as she took in the new information the white wizard had to give her.

"Minwu, will you seek them out and ask them to meet with me this evening? And kindly bring your sister in as well," Hilda requested, "I would like to find out more about this secret our recruits have been hiding all this time."

The white wizard nodded. "As you wish…"


	12. Chapter 12: Lost Memories and Secrets

**And now the princess herself has learned about Telma. The question that remains is, what will Telma gain from recovering her memory and at what is the risk?**

**And our bad boy Leon spills the beans when he shouldn't be. *sarcastic* Way to make a crack on trust, buddy boy!**

**Anyways, pretty soon things our rebels are going to make a trip to look for a blatantly obvious evil airship and crap is gonna get really big... **

**That being said, hope you enjoy!**

**I own nothing of Final Fantasy 2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Lost Memories and Secrets

Later on in the evening, just as they had returned from their business in the armory, the four young rebels were intercepted by Minwu and were instructed to meet with the princess to discuss about certain matters that needed to be settled. Telma and Firion knew what this meant since they were sure that the white wizard had already given the summary of what he learned to Princess Hilda; however, Maria, Guy, and Nikolas were not aware of what happened back in Poft, so they felt they were kept in the dark about what had transpired without their knowledge. In the case of Mingzhu, she had trouble understanding what the matter was about; even though she was reassured that she'll learn what the matter is soon enough.

When they arrived in the briefing room, the princess was waiting for them, and it was easy to tell that there was something on her mind that needed to be taken seriously.

"I apologize about this inconvenience, but I had to ask all of you to come speak with me before we rest. I heard from Minwu all that transpired, and now I have a question that requires answers from you," Hilda explained. She looked over to Firion and Telma. "Tell me, is there any particular information that you have kept hidden from us since you came here? I heard from Minwu that one of you has a problem that I wasn't aware of until now. Could you perhaps reveal to me in detail what the matter is about?"

Firion hung his head shamefully, knowing that the truth has leaked out. "I guess Minwu gave you a summary about it, didn't he? Well, unfortunately, there is something we hadn't told all of you about since we were brought here."

Now it was Maria and Guy's turn to be confused about what the situation was.

"What Princess talking about?" Guy questioned.

"What brought all this on? We haven't done anything offensive, and Telma hasn't done anything that would spark suspicion…" Maria started to ask, but faltered when she saw Firion's guilty look. "…Didn't she, Firion?"

The moment Mingzhu heard this, she couldn't help looking over to her brother, to the young rebels, and to the princess and back; it was clear that the female white mage felt like she was completely missing whatever the subject is.

"Wait, whoa, did I miss something here? What's going on, Minwu?" she questioned, grilling for answers. "C'mon, somebody 'fess up and tell me what manner of suspicions or accusations is being brought up!"

"White wizard knows. Knows Telma has secrets," Guy answered, catching on what's going on.

Maria paled when she realized what the situation was, and in turn, she started to feel guilt and embarrassment creeping across her spine.

When Telma knew where everything was going and, knowing that Firion has practically spilled the beans to the white wizard when he was pressured into, she decided that she might as well give what she knew to the princess herself since it would be hard for the rest of her friends to try and explain their efforts to hide everything about her.

"Unfortunately, everything that Minwu told you through Firion is true. I do have a problem, and it's not what you thought before," Telma confessed, "And I won't even bother to lie: I do have amnesia, and have had it for two years."

Hilda, upon hearing this, was quite shocked to hear about this. "Is that what ails you all along? I never would have guessed that."

_Well, you've come this far…don't stop now_, Telma thought. She took a breath and gave her side of the story. "My first memories were a blur…barely catching glimpses of people that I didn't know before blacking out. When I woke up, I found myself in another person's home with Firion next to me. When asked by those who took me in, I could only remember my name. I had no memories of my birthplace, of what country I lived in; of my family…basically, I couldn't remember everything." She shook her head. "Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon – along with the kind couple that brought me in – tried to find something, anything, to jog my memory to no avail. That's why I've lived with them…until the war showed up at our doorstep. And yet, after all that has happened, I'm starting to question what it is I have forgotten. In fact, when I had met Josef, I thought I didn't know him at all – that is, until I had a dream that was actually a lost memory resurfacing from somewhere in the recesses of my mind. However…even now…I am beginning to question what to do now that more people know of me."

An unsettling silence filled the room even after she explained all that she knew to those present within the room, which made her wonder – and dread – what everyone thinks of her now that they know about her and what they might consider doing with her since her secrets have been exposed in an untimely fashion.

However, as the princess was taking in all that she had heard, the female white mage was seen to be scratching below her eye in contemplation about the situation they've gotten themselves into just as Minwu started to wonder what was on her mind about all of this.

"Jeez…who would've guessed that Telma was a stranger in a strange land, having appeared out of nowhere with no clue as to whom she is?" Mingzhu admitted, "To be honest, I've never heard of a situation like this before, nor have I ever thought that an amnesiac was walking among us undetected."

"Please, don't misunderstand how secretive we were at the time," Maria implored, "We were just trying to protect Telma until we could find something that could help us trace her origins."

"Search, we try. We help Telma. But…we find nothing," Guy added, shaking his head sadly.

That was when the princess remembered something. "If all of you know of Telma's problems, then did Leon know of it as well?"

That tugged at Firion's heartstrings a bit. "Yeah, he did…But if he's alive…I hate to think of anyone prying information out of him."

But then, Minwu quickly noticed that his younger sister seemed to be lost in her own thoughts as she started to slowly pace a bit, all the while tapping her cheek like she's trying to figure out what is clawing in her psyche. His curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to find out what was going on. Who knows? Perhaps whatever she's thinking might be helpful for a change…

"Is there something on your mind, sister?" he asked.

Mingzhu was silent for a moment, until she asked, "Hey, Minwu, our little band said that they hadn't been able to retrace where their friend came from, is that right?"

"Yes, that's exactly what they said. What are you getting at?" Minwu asked, his curiosity growing.

Firion caught on with this and approached the two. "What are you thinking?"

"Do you have an idea, Mingzhu?" Hilda questioned, intrigued as well.

"Well, I was just thinking: Telma has amnesia, right? She did say she had no memories of herself whatsoever until she met Josef and meeting him brought back a small fragment of said memories that she had lost before," Mingzhu explained. "Well, think about it: now that we know about Telma, and we know that she has problems with reconnecting with her past life, maybe we could do something to get the answers we – and she – needs! If we could find something that could jog Telma's memories, then that could help us learn more about her. Who knows? Maybe we might even be able to find out where she was born and who she was connected to in her past."

When Telma heard about this, she could tell that Minzhu certainly knew where she was going with her thoughts and her ideas were very legitimate. But even so, she wasn't sure whether she should go along with the idea since she doesn't know what proposition would be given as to how such a feasible plan could work; even if there is a possible way to restore her memory, she wasn't sure if she even wants to overcome her amnesia in the first place. In fact, she still feared the notion that whatever memories she had of her past were more negative than positive.

"But even if we could find anything that might be able to help her, what if someone finds out about her and tries to hunt her down?" Maria spoke up.

"What, are you saying that you don't want to help your friend?" Mingzhu questioned. "Man, I was so sure 'ignorance is bliss' has vanished after the empire attacked us."

Not wanting any arguments, Telma took a breath and said, "Listen, I appreciate that you want to help us. Really, I do. But what I have to ask is why you'd want to do so even after everything you've heard thus far. Would you really want to let me stick around once you've learned where I came from?"

This actually managed to catch everyone's attention the moment she asked that question. Out of them, the princess herself surprisingly understood was talking about, especially when she showed an uncanny sympathy to the confused and rather uneasy mage's dilemma; this proved to be more evident when she approached Telma and gently placed her hand on her shoulders to show well-meaning.

"Telma, I understand how you feel about this development. But at least try and understand that we needed to know what we're dealing with," Hilda explained to her gently, "Mingzhu does have a legit idea on how we could help you overcome your ailment, and if you are willing to go along with it, that is quite alright by all means. However, ultimately, it is not us who has to make that decision. The choice must be yours and yours alone." She paused for a moment. "Once you make your verdict on what you want to do with your memories, there is no turning back from it. But we will do what we can to help you. So, to make sure, let me ask you one question: do you want to get your memories back, or do you not? We will not dissuade you either way."

With the surprising decision given to her to determine, Telma couldn't believe that she was allowed the choice of what she wants to do with herself, which would very well impact where her life will go afterwards. As much as she had to question what the consequences would be if she chose to get the help she really needed, she knew that there would also be consequences for not wanting to go through with the ideas presented to her.

Unsure of what she should do, she turned over to her friends for any idea on what she should do for an answer. Maria shook her head, indicating that it wasn't her place to make the final decision. Guy shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he doesn't know what to say about it. But when she looked over to Firion, she could see different emotions going through him; on the one hand, he wanted to help her with choosing the best option, but on the other hand, his eyes strongly indicated that he was saying 'whatever you choose, we'll still support you through it' to her.

With that knowledge taken in, she came to understand that this was something she had wanted to do ever since she was discovered outside of Fynn; now that there is a possible way to retrace her roots, she as the opportunity to remember who she used to be and find out where she originally came from. Now that she has an idea of what she wants, Telma made her final say to settle the matter for good, knowing that she's reached the point of no return…

"…I want to get my memories back," Telma gave her choice.

An unsettling silence crept through the room for a moment when everyone heard her final decision; but thankfully, that was broken when – once she showed a puzzled look on her face like she wanted to know if she made a bad choice – the princess and the white wizard nodded in understanding.

"I see. That is your decision, and we shall accept that," Minwu said to break the silence. "I apologize if our prying into your affairs was disconcerting to you, really I do, but if there is something that needs to be known, there is no need to hide it from us."

"In any case, you should all get some rest while you can. We have more dangers ahead of us, and I would prefer not to exhaust all of you so much for the cause," Hilda added as she politely dismissed everyone.

* * *

When Tristan woke up, he could've sworn that his entire body felt rather stiff from remaining still for a long while; it didn't help when, as he was getting up, he felt a spell of dizziness hit him like a rock against his skull. This forced him to stay still for a moment until his perception could regain its senses.

"…Ugh, I hate it when that happens," he muttered lowly. "How long did I sleep…?"

"You slept for two days straight, General. The physician had a suspicion that would happen, considering your conditions."

Registering the familiar young voice, Tristan looked over to his right to find Leon standing outside the medical tent like he was expecting him. Sighing in disbelief at the news he was given, the old knight couldn't help but feel a bit mortified that he let that happen to him again.

"I take it the physician has business elsewhere, so you waited here for me to wake?" Tristan asked.

"You could say that. Or maybe because there's something I wanted to discuss with you as soon as you were awake," Leon replied, straight to the point.

The general froze at this, not sure what to expect. "What did you learn?"

"Earlier, you mentioned that someone called Marta as you spoke about those habits you have. I tried to ask the physician what you were talking about, but he told me that only you or the emperor would be able to answer the question," Leon answered, "The most I could hear was that this person was a mage, and was connected to you. Who is Marta, and what do you know about her?"

Tristan sighed deeply as he ruffled his greyed hair, trying to figure out what he should do about this new situation. It had been years, but nobody has ever questioned about his life to that extent; he couldn't lie that Leon was quite the persistent one, especially after how he got nosy the first time. However, since the cracks were starting to form, he might as well just let the defenses keep on cracking for the moment.

"Alright…if it'll sate your curiosity, I'll tell you what I can. But don't expect me to answer all of your questions. There are some secrets that should never be fully uncovered," Tristan warned sternly before he began explaining himself. "Back when I was new in my services as one of the heads of the military, it hadn't crossed my mind that things would completely change in the most unexpected sense. I thought nothing would change in the slightest, until word spread that a wandering mage was spotted within the country. Though it was a stretch, I was sent to track down that person, and find out who it is. I thought this mage was a man, but I was certainly wrong on all accounts."

That caught the young man's attention. "And that wandering mage was…?"

The old knight nodded. "Yes, that wandering mage I eventually located was a woman named Marta."

"In that case, who was Marta to you?" Leon asked, pressing for answers.

"After finding her and entering her into the services of the late emperor, she was one of few things that mattered most to me," Tristan replied, "In other words, she was my wife."

The instant Leon heard this; he was so certain that he felt like he had hit a wall headfirst. He didn't figure that this was what the old general knew about the entire time since he had gotten involved; even so, this was a lot to take in, since there was still so much he didn't know. But then, it got him thinking: if Marta was Tristan's wife, and he claimed that he had a daughter that went missing years ago, then who was their daughter? That was when his mind flashed back at that moment in the dungeon when the old knight had told him his belief that Telma – someone whom he knew ever since she was adopted in the family he had lost – and his daughter, also named Telma are one and the same or look-alikes. Could that mean…? No, it couldn't…That can't be true…

"General…you said that you had a daughter named Telma, didn't you?" Leon asked whilst his voice was quite shaky.

"Yes, I did mention that last we spoke," Tristan answered. He raised a brow in suspicion. "Why? Is there something you haven't addressed to me yet?"

"N-No, it's just…I don't know, it just strikes me as confounding beyond understanding. I don't even know if either one of us is speaking about the same person, or if one of us is missing something altogether. I thought it was hard enough to comprehend looking after someone with memory loss…" When Leon realized what he was saying, he covered his mouth to stop himself, albeit a little too late.

However, this caught Tristan's attention as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Leon…what did you mean by that? Who has memory loss?"

It became pretty clear to Leon that he was supposed to maintain an important secret and not spill it out so carelessly, and now he had completely broken that taboo. Now what should he do? If he tried to back out of it, there's the strong possibility that Tristan might try and press him for answers until he gave him what he wanted; if he did tell him everything he knew, then that meant he had betrayed Telma's trust. He was cornered with nowhere to run now.

"Well, Leon? Are you going to tell me?"

Left with no other choice, Leon sighed in defeat. "It…Telma – the one I knew, that is – had a severe case of amnesia when I first met her. That's all I know, really. She had no memories of herself – not her family, not her origins, nothing."

When he took in all of this, Tristan stroked his chin in contemplation of this new information given to him. _Perhaps I should have this reported to his Majesty as soon as I have the chance_, he thought, _so that he would be in the know of this new development_.

"I see…then there may be a ray of hope yet," Tristan said quietly to himself. He then looked back to his protégé. "Leon…since you're here and everyone else is preoccupied, tell me everything you can about the Telma you know. Perhaps there truly is a connection between the ones we know of. If everything you tell me is true and it might connect to the Telma I know, we could make use of the trap and confirm whether or not it really is her."


	13. Chapter 13: Preparing for Bafsk

**And the story goes on. Oh, man, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have quite a lot of fun writing the moment of the attempt to screw up the empire only to be screwed up instead.**

**Anyways, with that being said, hope someone enjoys!**

**Constructive reviews are welcome, rude comments are not.**

**I own noting of FF2 except for my OCs.**

**Read, review, but no flames.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Preparing for Bafsk

As a new morning rose into the sky, Telma couldn't help but question what new mission they might be receiving after all that had happened. After that meeting they had yesterday in which she was questioned about herself, the princess said she would tell them about their next objective when the morn arose, so that meant whatever she had to inform them of was probably of very high importance. But what could it be?

"So, do you have any idea what news we have?" Telma couldn't help asking.

"Heck if I know. The most my brother told me was that it had something to do with an airship or something," Mingzhu answered as she led them to the throne room. "And from what I've been hearing from our boys – and girls, need I add – that this ship that's being built is a REALLY big one, probably able to demolish a town in seconds."

"Is it that serious?" Firion asked, paling a bit.

"Oh, yeah, it's that serious."

Since they had a better idea as to what could possibly be going on right now, it made the young rebels a bit nervous as to what they could be dealing with next.

"Y'know, I don't see how an airship is so scary. I mean, I've seen scary pirate ships, but airships? It'd take a lot of weapons and things to be a bigger threat," Nikolas said with skepticism.

"Am I to assume you've never seen an airship before?" Maria wondered.

"I've seen occasional ones, but never something meant for a warzone," Nikolas replied.

Telma's thought wandered a bit. "Airship…that does sound like something I would've known about. But where did I hear about it?"

"Who knows? Maybe after you hear everything, something might come back to you," Mingzhu speculated.

"You sound rather eager to go with that plan of yours from yesterday, aren't you?" Firion noticed.

"White witch too eager," Guy commented.

Like before, this irked the female white mage when she heard that, but had to sweep it under the rug since they were already nearing the throne room. As soon as everyone had gathered in the meeting room together, Hilda gave what collection of information she was able to acquire in order to prepare the group for the next objective to come.

"Thank you for coming. I am sure you all are well aware of the losses we suffered when Fynn was attacked, but during the raid, the Empire also suffered heavy losses," Hilda began explaining everything. "We've received intel that our enemy is constructing the Dreadnought to compensate for their losses. Initially, General Tristan has been overseeing the construction of the warship on behalf of his emperor, but as of late, a strange person called the Dark Knight has joined in to help oversee its completion."

"Well, that sounds like bad news to me," Mingzhu commented.

But Telma was rather perplexed at the last bit. "The Dark Knight? Is there anything we know about him?"

Hilda shook her head. "Unfortunately, no, we don't know anything about this warrior. We only learned about him recently, and even now, we do not have much to go on as to what he is capable of."

"Last I heard, I've been hearing little blurb-a-blurbs that this guy has become quite a vicious enigma," Mingzhu added when she heard this, "And get this: I heard rumors that this knight was brought under the tutelage of General Tristan himself! Who'd have thought it? Normally, that old guy doesn't train someone personally without a reason."

That sent a chill down nearly everyone's spines when they heard what the female white mage had heard from her peers. If this new face is as dangerous as she claims, then that means they have a lot more trouble on their hands than they already have. How were they going to deal with the empire now?

"Fortunately for us, the both of them are attending to other matters now. The theft of the mythril has likely knocked the empire off balance," Hilda continued, "I'd like you all to go to Bafsk…If we're to stop the Dreadnought from being completed; this may be our only chance."

"How are we going to be able to reach the Dreadnought?" Firion asked, not too sure about how such a feat would be possible.

"We have a man in Bafsk working undercover. He should help you find a way to reach the Dreadnought," the princess reassured them, "I want you to destroy it, or at the very least, find a way to delay its completion. I have full confidence that with all of you and Minwu on this task, it will be accomplished."

A disappointed face can easily be seen on Mingzhu's face as she hung her head down; Minwu, being the brother he is, quickly caught on that she feels left out yet again.

The white wizard turned to the others for a moment and asked, "If it's alright, you'd best prepare yourself for the long journey to Bafsk while you can. I only need to do a couple things here before I meet with you."

Knowing that the matter was something personal – and it would be wise to be ready in advance for whatever may come on their way to the town where the Dreadnought was being built – Firion and the others took their leave from the meeting room. But as they left, there was a little thought crossing their minds after everything they've heard.

"Whoo, boy! Something tells me that we're about to have quite a hectic trip to Bafsk, considering what we've learned," Nikolas commented with a whistle.

"I do have to wonder one thing, though: what is the Dreadnought like? If it's as foreboding and evil as the princess seems to be indicating, then I'd not be surprised if everyone's fears are justified," Telma wondered.

"I guess the only way we'd know about it is if we saw it for ourselves," Maria admitted with a shiver.

"Still…this Dark Knight…what manner of stranger is he?" Firion's thoughts were elsewhere. "It's one thing to learn about Tristan, but this? I dread to think of who this warrior is…"

"Dark Knight…Guy not like this. Not like Tristan either," Guy confessed tensely, "Keep guard up…even Telma."

That didn't exactly sit well with Telma. "I'm not really asking for constant protection, you know. I have enough problems as it is."

"Telma, we know that you don't like being monitored, but at least understand that we don't want anybody to hurt you," Firion reassured her, "At the very least, stay close to us in case someone does come after us and might intend harm on you."

She couldn't help but agree on that. "If you say so…though, if I had encountered something that'd convince me in that mindset, then I'd probably be glad to seek protection."

* * *

Back in the meeting room, once Firion and the others had gone out to prepare for the journey to Bafsk, Minwu approached his bitterly disappointed sister to give her some assurance.

"I am sorry that you are feeling left out, my sister, but I have to ask you to help within Altair for a little longer," Minwu requested to her, "I only want you to do your part in aiding the rebels from this front while I am not around. But I am certain that there will come a time when you'll be needed most."

"I know you want me to keep things in order here, but I want to be more active on the field and help out more openly," Mingzhu confessed, "and more often, mind you. I'm getting tired of being left in the sidelines like that."

Minwu shook his head with a sigh, but he certainly understood what his sister was talking about; he knew that she only wanted to be more helpful, and he won't deny that she did have a lot of potential after the discipline she had to go through to reach heights other Mysidian women hardly got to. In fact, he personally wished he hadn't been holding her back so much; perhaps she might have a chance at being able to do more someday, but for now…she has to wait a little longer.

"Perhaps you might get your chance to be more involved sooner than you think. When and how, I do not know. But I am certain that when the time comes, you'll know what to do," Minwu promised her.

"How will I know?" his sister asked uncertainly.

The answer he gave her was rather cryptic. "You'll figure out."

* * *

Out in the town, Firion and the others searched around the shops for whatever they might need for their long journey to the town of Bafsk. Knowing that the enemies to come might be more dangerous than what they've experienced thus far, it was unanimously agreed that it would be best to have improved equipment for combat; not only that, but their young thief friend openly suggested that they'd best get some means to keep their vigor maintained as well, so some potions were purchased as well as a few other rations to work on in order to prepare for the long trip.

During their stroll, though, Telma suddenly felt that sneaking feeling that she was being followed yet again. But unlike last time, she quickly figured that it had to be that poor boy she had encountered the last time she was in town…

"I know you're following, Gordon. You might as well come out and let my friends see you," she said with a knowing tone of voice.

At first, nobody had a clue what Telma was talking about – especially since she implied that there was someone else with them. But then, the instant a startled gasp became audible, everyone turned to find Gordon slowly emerge from his hiding place and reveal himself; now it gave Firion and the others an idea on what had happened while Telma was out getting supplies before their journey to Salamand.

"So you're Gordon, aren't you? Why were you following us?" Firion had to ask.

"Sorry, I…It's just that I heard that you successfully sabotaged the empire's shipment of mythril, and it surprised me," Gordon replied in embarrassment. "I was amazed when I heard all of that. If only I was as strong as you all are…"

Oh, great. The low self-esteem line again. Telma couldn't help sighing in disbelief at this and shaking her head in displeasure.

"Gordon, I thought we went through this the first time we met. You've got to pull yourself together!" Telma reprimanded him. She noticed him flinch a bit, making her soften a bit and feel pity on him. "Listen, I don't mean to harp on you like that, but it's the truth. If you've heard about what we've been doing, it should give you the motivation to man up and do something that could be useful to the cause."

"Maybe so…But what will you all be doing that would help Princess Hilda?" Gordon asked.

"We'll be headed to Bafsk, to find and attempt to delay the construction of the monstrous airship," Firion answered, straight to the point.

Boy, did the prince pale in terror. "You're going to try and destroy the Dreadnought?! That'd be suicide! From what I was able to understand, the emperor's trusted general is helping oversee the construction of that terrifying war machine."

"Actually, we had just heard that someone called the Dark Knight has been aiding the general in the continuation of the construction," Maria added in, "But just now, it has been reported that those two had been called to attend to other matters. Where we're standing right now, that might give the one chance we have to do something about the monstrous machine and hinder the empire even more."

"I'd betcha they've got some booty that we can snatch right from under their noses, given how they've got the possible resources to be able to make something like that," Nikolas decided to join in, rather eager at the prospect of raiding an airship.

All that was being told certainly got the prince in contemplation. "I see…Now I see why everyone is so determined to stop the empire. There must be something I can do to help…" He shook his head for a moment, wanting to think about it later. "Well, in any case, please be careful, all of you. You have to come back alive, at the very least."

"Don't worry about us, Gordon. We'll be back before you know it," Telma reassured him.

Though most of the party didn't quite notice this, Firion had a suspicion that their actions and involvement in the Wild Rose must've gotten to Gordon, considering how the prince is well aware of what has been happening. Still, he could certainly understand what Telma meant when she said the poor guy wasn't exactly a confident person and really needs the motivation to do something helpful so that no more helpless lives have to experience further losses and pain than they already have.

But then he got a surprise when Gordon had something personal to say to him. "You must be really lucky to have a woman like Telma to pull all of you through. I don't know what her story is, but I admire her dedication regardless of the blank slate on her life. Don't let anything terrible happen to her, will you?"

This startled the young rebel when he heard the prince actually say that. Surely he must've learned about Telma the first time the two had crossed paths, so why else would he say that? But it also reminded Firion that Gordon wasn't aware of the meeting they had regarding their magic friend's conditions; he's most likely the only person kept in the dark about the affairs of Telma. One way or another, he'll also need to be in the know about it, but not now; perhaps once they've finished their business in Bafsk and returned to Altair, they'll fill the prince in on what the princess and the white mages have now become aware of.

* * *

Even though it was late at night and some of the crew should be rested for further labors to come, Leon didn't feel the urge to get any sleep at all.

Ever since that incident where he accidentally spilled out sensitive details about his old friend Telma, his elder superior grilled him to reveal to him everything he knew without leaving anything out. Although he complied with doing this in order to keep Tristan from believing him to be a liar and face harsh consequences, he couldn't help feeling that nagging reminder that his exposing information on the amnesiac girl has misfortunately caused him to betray the identity of someone he was supposed to safeguard from anyone who would try to exploit her for one reason or another. If Telma were to find out about it, what would she say about this? What would she think?

He didn't want to think about it; not in his current state…

Besides, he had other matters to be concerned about: the Dreadnought. It was rather nauseating to be around that piggish oaf called Borghen, and it was worse because he treats those working on the airship much worse than he and Tristan ever did. If anything, that boar made Tristan look more like a harmless gentleman in comparison.

But then again, considering how long he's been in the service of the emperor in contrast to the old veteran, he shouldn't be too surprised that he's begun to feel the dark side of himself slowly fester within him. Because he had been taught the ways of Palamecia from someone who has been around such people for most of his life, Leon had become convinced that he, too, was on the verge of having blood on his hands after being around such powerful figures as the emperor and his main general in the army.

"If you overthink things like this, you'll only serve to hurt yourself in worse ways than receiving battle scars."

Leon looked up to find Tristan entering the tent, and it was quickly noticed that he had a satchel on him that looked like it could hold more than just the bare essentials. It made him wonder what was going on with the general, and of what importance is that item he now has on him.

"Sorry, General…Too much is on my mind right now," Leon said guiltily, "But what of you? What do you have there?"

Tristan looked at the satchel when he realized the question. "Oh, this? After my search in the ruins of Fynn, I found certain items in one home and had the best sorcerers and diviners analyze the materials for any clues as to the rightful owner. Well, one of them reported back to me just now and…well…"

"And what?" Leon pressed him.

There was a momentarily unsettling silence before the old veteran replied, "…The items that were found did belong to her. That gown, the jewelry, all of it…She was wearing all of that when she ran from home and vanished!" But then a frown crossed his face. "However, there were traces of forestry on them that indicated she was in a forest somewhere. Though, given what you have told me, I'm quite sure we know very well that it must've been where she ended up. How she could've wound up in the forests near Fynn is beyond me, but perhaps there may be a chance to learn more when we see her personally."

Despite acknowledging his mentor's confidence, Leon couldn't help having doubts about that; even if Telma did see him face-to-face, there's no way she would be able to know who it is that is looking for her. Plus, would she see Tristan as an intrusive stranger while under the influence of amnesia?

The only way he'll ever be able to know is if those rebels led by Firion came to Bafsk along with Telma. But even then, he loathed thinking of what will happen when they do meet…

* * *

At the same time, sometime after making their preparation, Telma was about to settle down in her room for the night (of course, she was also waiting for Firion because he had other matters to deal with before he joins her).

But then, she got a bit of a surprise when she heard a knock on the door; since she didn't know who was there, she took the initiative to open it up and find out. To her surprise, she found Minwu there rather than Maria or Guy. For what reason could he be here at this hour? Telma always thought that he'd be best by the side of Hilda along with his sister. So what is doing here?

"I am sorry for bothering you, but I was hoping I could talk to you before Firion arrives," Minwu apologized.

"Sure thing…but why do you want to talk to me?" Telma asked, puzzled.

The white wizard hung his head slightly in remorse. "I wanted to apologize for the intrusion on your personal affairs earlier."

That stunned her quite a bit; Minwu was offering an apology for forcing her truth to come out?

"What for? We kept it under wraps out of paranoia, and it was rather stupid of us to not inform you about it," Telma questioned. "Really, if anyone's at fault, it should really be…"

"Telma, I appreciate you trying to clear up the misunderstanding, but I still have to be responsible for this change of events. I will not deny that I shouldn't have pressured Firion into confessing everything he knew about you," Minwu interrupted her, intent on explaining himself. "But I will admit that, when I heard about how you were discovered and what misfortune had struck you. In all my years of aiding the lives of others, I had never been involved with someone who suffered from severe memory loss. Now that we – the princess, my sister, and I – know about this, I would like to request that you allow us to help you in recovering your memories as much as possible. And not just for our curiosity, but for Firion's sake as well."

Truth be told, Telma never expected to hear this from another fellow, let alone from someone rather serious like Minwu (whom she had just gotten used to being around). But even so, the integrity behind his wish gave her the feeling that there's people she finally trust with her life outside of those she has come to know before the war came to their doorsteps.

"I see…In that case, I am glad to have more people to turn to," she said earnestly, rather relieved that she found understanding.

"You should be, considering how far you've come along," the white wizard said in appreciation, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should head back and rest. Take care to do so yourself. We have a long journey ahead of us, and we do not want anyone slacking off during trying days like these."

Telma nodded in agreement. "That, I am sure I can do."

Just as Minwu left her to attend to his associates, Firion had returned to find that their friend had already turned the corner and departed from the hall. Naturally, he didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

"Telma, did Minwu speak with you earlier?" he asked in confusion.

"Yes, he did. He wanted to apologize for the confessions we had to make," Telma explained, "I was rather surprised at that, but at the same time, I could tell that he felt rather bad about prying into our personal business."

It took him a little bit to understand what she was talking about, but when Firion remembered that it was about Telma's secrets, he was able to connect the dots and figure out where that conversation was going.

"Oh…I see. Well, that's rather relieving to know. I was afraid of what would happen once the information got out," Firion sighed with relief.

But then, a small frown crossed Telma's face. "But even so, one thing bothers me…it was pretty much agreed that the only other person who knew about me besides you and Maria and Guy was Leon. I'm worried that, if Leon's still alive, he might've spilled something he shouldn't have and…well…you get where I'm going with this, don't you?"

When she least expected it, she felt herself being pulled in close by Firion and held tenderly in assurance that she'll be okay. Although it doesn't occur too often, it always gave her some level of comfort whenever something bothered her for one reason or another. Actually, Telma certainly needed that right now since there are not many people she can turn to for help.

"Telma, we made a promise to look after you and protect you from the moment we legally took you in the family," Firion reminded her in a serious tone, "and I can assure that we will continue to do so. All I ask is that you trust us with this for a little while longer. We'll pull through this war, and maybe…one day…we'll be able to start over with our lives, create a new life that we can all live in together."

Just hearing all of this gave Telma a reasonable amount of comfort to take in, even when other conflicting emotions tried to say otherwise. If anything, it would be something great if she could have a chance to see the war stopped for good so that she can go back to the place she called home with the people she loved ever since she lived among them. Though, it would be a lot better if all of her friends are together again as they were before; she wished she could have her girlish moments with Maria, her treks in the woods with Guy, and the friendly relations with Firion and Leon once more.

Unfortunately, little did Telma know that circumstances will make certain such childish ideas will not come to pass that easily; after all, what she had experienced thus far wasn't even the half of the atrocities the empire can do.


	14. Chapter 14: Close Encounter with Failure

**I wonder what HiddenXEmotion will think about this chapter...It was a pain in the bum to write down since I was making major tweaks in this! It didn't really help that I had other things going on.**

**Oh, well, I hope what few followers and readers I have here enjoy this nonetheless.**

**...Which reminds me, I REALLY need to get a cover picture in here for this story. Maybe that can grab more attention...**

**Whatever. Enjoy!**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave me a review, but no flames allowed!**

* * *

Chapter 14: Crossing Paths with Failure

When the first light of morning had at last arrived in the town of Altair, the atmosphere of the entire town was quite tense; although it was understandable since word about the potentially destructive power of the airship Dreadnought was certainly something to be truly feared in the world. Already there were whispers among the people with the streets and in the base of the Wild Rose on what manner of deadly weapons might be used against them when the storm of evil rolls in across the sky.

On the part of Telma, though, what she wanted to know is what kind of machine this thing might be since she's never seen airships before, let alone something so colossal that it could easily strike fear into the weak-minded just by mentioning its name aloud in public. Perhaps when they arrive in Bafsk, she might have the chance to see what this thing is like face-to-face. Still, the only thing that hampered such a nerve-wracking anxiety is the dread of what will happen when the party encounters the Dark Knight and General Tristan; something about the two just gives her negative vibes about the whole situation, especially with the latter…

"It's a long way to Bafsk, considering the terrain and all of that. You're probably gonna need a ride all the way there."

Quickly, she snapped back into reality when Mingzhu suddenly said something important.

"Wait, what are we gonna need?" Telma asked.

"You'll find out when we get outside," Minwu answered without looking at her.

None of the young recruits had the faintest idea on what the two siblings were talking about regarding their mode transport until they were led inside a stable located a ways outside of the base. That is, until Minwu opened the door and led them into a stable housing a handful of large, yellow feathered bird creatures with large beaks. Naturally, all four of them were quite surprised at the sight of the fantastic birds that were being cared for and trained in their mobility.

"What are those things?" Maria asked in fascination.

"We call these big cuties chocobos," Mingzhu answered proudly. "These big birds are some of the best beasts we've ever cared for since who knows when. They'll be serving as your mounts on your trip to Bafsk, so when you get there, be really careful."

"Really? We'll be riding these all the way to Bafsk?" Firion was surprised at this, considering he had hardly ever ridden a chocobo in his life.

Nikolas, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled at this. "Oh, man, I know I'm going to get thrown off their backs more times than I've been thrown into the sea by storms…"

"They not bad. Respect chocobo," Guy insisted.

While Nikolas tried to make an argument about the huge birds, Telma simply stared at the yellow birds with amazement at the creatures. She couldn't believe that she was seeing such things up close and personal, especially since she had never seen such creatures like these before…at least, she thinks so.

"Minwu, how far can these chocobos really go?" Telma couldn't help asking.

"Given how far Bafsk is in comparison to other locations, they will help us reach our destination in nearly half the time," Minwu replied as he readied his mount.

"Believe it, girl. These fellas can certainly make travel much easier than you did the last few times," Mingzhu agreed. "Though, given your situations, you'd better hurry if you wanna keep more lives from being destroyed by those bastards."

"I couldn't agree more on that. We've come this far, so we can't stop and fidget our thumbs now," Firion agreed as he hopped on board one.

Despite her eagerness to end the war like her friends, Telma couldn't shake off the feeling that something was completely wrong about their situation. And no, it's not that she was growing scared; it was more of uneasy, as though they were playing into someone else's hands and heading into something dangerous. _Why do I keep getting his notion that something's out of place here? We have a potential advantage against our enemy, but I keep thinking that something has been set up_, Telma thought. _There's no way they'd know we were on our way to destroy the Dreadnought…is there?_

* * *

"General, I've just received our reports from our scouts."

Tristan looked from the blueprints on the desk when he heard that he had just been announced, making him wonder what could be important at this hour. Though, he had a feeling that what information will be given will not be anything new for him.

"What is it?" he asked, getting to the point.

"Our scouts have indicated that the rebels have taken the bait, and are sending a party to Bafsk in an attempt to destroy the Dreadnought," the messenger explained. "We have reason to believe that it's the small group of escapees we thought we'd cut down, along with the white wizard under the service of the princess."

Tristan sighed, knowing that the trap is succeeding. "I see. Anything else I need to know?"

The messenger hesitated a moment before continuing. "There's also something else, General. Our scouts have also confirmed that the look-alike has been spotted among the rebel party sent to Bafsk. Shall we prepare an ambush for her?"

That settled it for Tristan. Now that he knows the emperor's plans to set a trap had begun to succeed and that the small party that caused trouble previously was one its way to attempt a futile sabotage, this was his opportunity to meet their adversaries face-to-face and let them know who they are dealing with. Not to mention, since their Telma was on her way as well, this was his chance to see her personally and – if his suspicions and evidence is indeed correct – he'll be able to regain what he had almost lost two years before; the emperor would certainly be pleased to have her back in Palamecia.

"You needn't concern yourself with this matter. I'll see that those imbecilic rebels realize the error of their ways myself," Tristan said as he got up to take arms, "As for the girl, let me worry about it. I know who it could be, and I want to see her face once more before I do anything to those fools who have her under their thumbs."

The messenger bowed swiftly. "As you wish, General. I'll let the commander know of the situation as well."

As soon as the messenger had left to inform Leon (even though only Tristan knows that they only know him as the Dark Knight) about the rebels, the old knight picked up his weapons in preparation for a potential fight if things get out of hands. But he knew that there might not be a need for that, considering how he knows that the airship was just about ready to take flight as soon as there is the possible indication of completion within the machine itself.

Besides, he was more concerned about fulfilling his own agenda. It gave him shivers just knowing that the one thing he wanted most was almost within his grasp. But he had to keep it in line until he crossed paths with the rebels who have dared to make an opposition against his illustrious emperor…

* * *

True to the words of the white magic users, the chocobos proved to be quite the valuable transports and were able to cut back their travels on foot by about a half; by the time they got to the entrance to the town of Bafsk, it was already starting to reach sunset and night could be upon them at any moment. But since there were indications of Imperial soldiers keeping watch around the area, they had to be careful not to draw too much attention to themselves unless they wanted to ask for a death wish against the guards overseeing the construction.

Telma could easily notice with the townsfolk that nobody was too thrilled with these oppressive overseers hovering around the entire area like gathered clouds about to storm at any moment, and there were even some that had never left their homes for reasons only they would know. It hurt her to see everyone feeling like this, especially since she knew that there are certain individuals that were far from human in their behavior. It made her dread what would become of the place if the war kept going on like this; plenty of kingdoms and cities had been either decimated or captured and forced into overbearing services that nobody would ever want to be involved with, let alone a slave to the vilest wretches that walk the earth.

"This is just too cruel…I hate to think of how everyone feels about watching a machine of war be made before their eyes," Maria suddenly spoke grimly.

"Those vile monsters…It'd make my day if I could cut them down just as they tried to do so to us," Firion agreed bitterly.

"I certainly understand your anger for these sinners, but you must understand that they are not as mindless as we think they are," Minwu reminded them, "They are under the command of someone who had to be as intelligent as he is powerful. That's the only reason I can make on why these fiends are well coordinated."

Telma shook her head sadly. "That does sound vaguely familiar…but I wish I could recall what it is exactly. It's rather unsettling to be moving along when we know that these creeps are lurking about."

"Guy sees airship… Too imposing, reeks of malice," Guy commented, "Trouble brewing…be careful."

"Oh, man, I'm really starting to hate this right now," Nikolas growled, "I'd like to get out of here as soon as we can."

Carefully, the group stopped at the nearby inn and had their chocobos set up so that they can continue their business on foot. When they did set foot, a few of the folks have noticed them and warily watched them as though they weren't sure whether or not they're friend or foe.

"Could you kindly spare some water and greens for our mounts?" Minwu requested politely.

That helped ease the tension at the moment when one of the stable boys came out to tend to the chocobos.

But then, as this was happening, an elder man peek his head out from the stables to see what was going on and – when nobody else was paying attention – caught notice of Telma, who was simply waiting for any other notifications on what they'll do now. But then, upon realizing that someone was watching, she turned to see the old man and saw him have an expression of déjà vu like she saw previously with Josef.

"You…haven't I seen you years before?" he asked nervously.

Telma quickly felt uncomfortable. "No…I-I don't think so. Excuse me…"

Hastily, she turned away and shuffled herself closer to her friends, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. Firion noticed this, and turned to her in concern.

"Is there something wrong, Telma?" he asked.

"Not really…but can we get moving quickly? I just want to get this over with and get out of here," she answered vaguely.

Minwu took note of what was making Telma uneasy and caught on where it was going. "Let's keep going. But be careful, and don't let the soldiers see you too openly."

Cautiously, the party moved through the streets to search for any possible clue as to where their infiltrating spy could be and how they're going to reach the Dreadnought. It didn't really help that as they moved further into the streets, more soldiers could be seen giving out orders to their subordinates as they kept moving to try and keep up with the construction going on far ahead of the town.

As they did, though, there were a couple whispers of different topics coming from the soldiers passing around the area. Not many were worth listening to, but there were a couple that didn't miss the rebels' ears.

One of them had to do with their irritation on Borghen:

_"…__I swear, no one wants to work under Borghen."_

_"__You're telling me. The thought of doing anything for his precious 'glory' makes me sick to my stomach."_

But another matter stuck out to the four Fynn refugees:

_"__Where do you suppose the General has gone off to? Has he found anything noteworthy?"_

_"__Last I checked, he got proof that his child is alive, but has not been found so far. He's been getting pretty desperate, far as I'm concerned."_

_"__Maybe the Dark Knight will help him complete his objective so that the General can rest easier than he normally would."_

_"__Who knows?"_

This didn't exactly sit well them, forcing them to quicken pace and finish the job as soon as possible. Even their thieving friend's pacing increased as though he can't tolerate being around the people he loathes for another hour and wants to get out of there right now.

Along the way through town, Telma actually got the chance to notice a repulsive figure in the middle of the square trying to bark orders that don't seem to register with everyone else in the area. The impression she got was that this person looked like a disgusting pig in the shape of a tubby man, warts and porky face and all, and even the fancy garments of black and gold doesn't reduce the ugliness in the slightest. _That man must the one they call Borghen…No wonder nobody likes him_, Telma thought while making a repulsed frown.

In fact, she could easily hear him barking, "Get back to work! Work, I say! If we finish a day sooner, my glory will be that much greater!"

Man, she couldn't believe that this pig was once someone from Fynn who then turned traitor just to save his own skin. It sickened her just to think that he only got involved with the Empire because he wanted to gain glory, whatever that means! She didn't even want to think of how he treats everyone besides the common folk…

Firion apparently sensed her repulse and gently pulled her along to help her turn away from the sight.

"Just keep going, Telma. Don't pay any attention to him," he instructed her quietly.

She nodded in agreement and kept moving as she was supposed to.

But then, someone's muttering was heard from behind an alleyway. "It's hard to believe Borghen came here in Bafsk a short while ago. Things have gotten much easier than they were under the Dark Knight and General Tristan. It's hard to believe a bumbling idiot like Borghen could become a general in the imperial army!"

Everyone looked around the corner to find a peculiar individual standing there all alone; at first glance, the four youths thought it was another one of the soldiers having a moment alone to secretly bash the person who's come to substitute the actual overseers. But thankfully, the white wizard's clearing his throat gave them a different indication, and reminded them that there was someone they were looking for.

The strange soldier jolted in surprise. "Oops! Um, you didn't heart that…"

"It's alright, fellow comrade. We're not against the empire," Minwu whispered.

"Oh, the Wild Rose? Aha! So you're one of us," the soldier – who is actually a fellow rebel - said with realization, "I had to be careful of what I did while the Dark Knight and General Tristan were here looking over my shoulder. But the 'great' General Borghen is anything but. He's just a domineering blowhard."

"So we noticed," Maria commented, her face showing obvious disgust.

"We were sent to destroy the Dreadnought, courtesy of you know who," Telma explained briefly.

The disguised rebel nodded. "There's an entrance to the sewers ahead. It's a backway leading to the Dreadnought. Be careful."

"Wow, these guys are making this trip way too easy for my comfort," Nikolas commented.

But then the hidden rebel looked around warily. "If they see us talking, they may start to get suspicious, so I'm outta here. Good luck!"

At the same time their spy made haste to disappear before anyone knew what was going on, the six rebels that came to do their job followed the directions they were given to a pathway into the underground sewers that would lead them to the airship all have come to fear. The one thing that they had to deal with was the fact that – well, since it was a sewer – there was strong indications of age within the dismal environment as well as the possibility that there may be creatures living within the place under the noses of the everyday people.

Unfortunately, it didn't really help that there were not only pesky plant monsters making trouble for them, but there was also the matter of the occasional undead that would come out to try and have them for dinner.

"Ugh! What is it with these monsters and showing up in the worst places?!" Telma growled as she shot a Fire spell at one of the undead.

"If you wanna blame someone, why don't ya blame the damned emperor and his heartless followers?" Nikolas answered as he raided the hidden chests for loot. "It's always been said that the fiends that were supposed to remain in the hellish world of Pandemonium have ways of coming out due to the wicked souls of the residents of Palamecia, and the royal family is no exception to this."

Minwu raised a brow at Nikolas's comment. "Am I to assume that you know something about Palamecia, given your rather strong comments against them?"

"Oh, you have no idea," the thief replied.

Though it was no walk in the park navigating through the tunnels with the monsters loose, they were nonetheless able to reach the exit to where the Dreadnought would be. Unfortunately, just as the party was about to head up there, a dark figure suddenly emerged and blocked the way to the airship. The figure was clad in blackened armor from head to toe, the helmet obscuring the face of the new stranger who has come to greet them personally; there was no doubt that this person was the Dark Knight that the princess and Mingzhu spoke about back in Altair.

"You're too late! The Dreadnought is completed!" the Dark Knight announced. "The general and I have been working behind the scenes to see the project through to completion." He shook his head, as though he were disappointed at their efforts. "End your resistance. Kneel before your Emperor. It is the only alternative left to you."

"No way in hell we're going to do that!" Firion rebuked bitterly, ready to draw his blade at any moment.

"Is that you should really be saying? You have no idea what you're dealing with, don't you?"

The instant the weary, aged voice came through the hall, Firion and Telma recognized it quickly and looked up to the next person to greet them personally. Immediately, the younger rebels were able to identify the face of General Tristan; though, this time, he seemed to be a bit distant compared to the last time they saw him, most likely because he wasn't interested in wasting any more time stalling the party.

Minwu took note of him and recalled what his sister had mentioned. "You must be General Tristan. My sister mentioned something about you. What is a poor man such as you doing here, and with the empire at that?"

Tristan hardened his gaze at the white wizard for a moment. "What would you know? You don't know what…"

But then, his voice faltered when his gaze shifted over to Telma, who was watching with unnerved eyes at the scene. In an instant, his eyes widened in shock and amazement, as though he had spotted a familiar face that he knew of all too well. The rebels didn't quite understand, but his expression changed from tired and apathetic to relieved and ecstatic toward the girl before his eyes.

"Telma…! Is it you, Telma? It has to be!" Tristan cried out anxiously, "Where have you been those two years ago? And what are you doing with these peasants? You've had me worried for your life after you ran from home, and made me suffer many restless days and nights searching for you." He shook his head, not caring about the details. "You remember your father, don't you? Please, come back home to Palamecia. Oh, what would Mateus think if he saw you again?"

Despite the excitement in the old general's voice and his open arms indicating that he only wanted to be able to hold his lost loved one again, the effects were completely contrary to what anyone would think. Instead of approaching him, it was noticed that Telma instead had a repulsed look on her face and was slowly starting to back away like she was facing a monster instead of a person. Firion, though, quickly caught on that her face strongly indicated a spark of familiarity to the new person…but this time, it was an extremely negative case, as though she didn't want to look at him.

"No…I don't remember you! I don't even know you!" Telma answered in loathing aggravation.

When Tristan heard this, his face changed to a confounded look. "What are you talking about? You're my daughter. Why don't you recognize me?"

Just as he made one step in an attempt to approach her, Telma's agitation increased to the point where she raised her staff against him as though she were intent on threatening him.

"No! Stay away! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed angrily.

In an instant, she conjured a Thunder spell and shot out multiple lightning bolts at Tristan. But when that happened, the Dark Knight immediately pushed the old general back a bit so that the magic spell didn't directly hit him; though the smoldering spots where the bolts hit showed that it was meant to repel the intruder in a violent manner

The aged warrior looked up at her, stunned that Telma attacked him instead of welcoming him; he couldn't understand why that happened.

"My gods…Don't tell me…you don't remember?" he gasped in horror at the discovery. He tried to move forward again. "No, that never happened to you. You're my daughter! My daughter would never forget about her father. I've spent years searching for you, and here you are, behaving as though you loathe me… Why? Why won't you come back to me?"

Firion, not liking where this was going and fearing further catastrophic retaliation from Telma, quickly got in front of her and drew his blade right in front of the general with an angry warning.

"Leave her alone! Telma is not going with you," Firion demanded harshly, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Maria and Guy followed Firion's lead and got into a defensive position around Telma, ready to protect her together; Minwu and Nikolas, despite the situation, also readied themselves for a possible confrontation against the two black-armored knights when necessary. Surprisingly, the Dark Knight quickly caught on that they were ready to strike if the old general tried to come any closer and made action to avoid the confrontation.

"General, let's depart at once. This isn't the place to confront them," the Dark Knight was able to persuade him.

Though he wanted to protest, Tristan reluctantly complied with the suggestion. "Very well, then. We have work to do anyway…" But then he turned to Firion with a hard gaze. "I'll be seeing you again one day, boy. You'll regret interfering in the matter."  
The two knights departed out of the tunnel towards the location of the Dreadnought, but then moments after, the troublesome Borghen made his appearance, fiendishly laughing at the failure of the rebels.

"Heh heh heh…Looks like you came all this way for nothing! Look for yourselves!" Borghen laughed.

"We're too late, it seems," Minwu cursed.

"Okay, can I seriously kill that pig right now?" Nikolas asked, eager to silence the creep.

But it was too late because Borghen also hurried on to catch a ride on board the airship that they've successfully completed in secret.

From outside the exit of the tunnel, everyone watched helplessly as the gigantic airship started up its engines and slowly made a grand ascent into the skies. Seeing the dark armoring of the gigantic warship looming so high in the skies was intimidating enough as it was, but it only got worse when they watched helplessly as the dreaded aircraft disappeared over the mountains to other destinations…but clearly not to simply be passing through.

It wasn't long until the party could hear the disconcerting sound of explosions and fire bellowing from a long distance, barely drowning out the sound of horrifying and painful screams of fear and agony coming from the helpless human lives caught in the midst of the unforeseen chaos that has come to bring torment in the worst ways possible. All of them – to various degrees – couldn't help listening in horror at what went on from afar, but it was the four youths who were terrifyingly shocked the most; if this was the worst the empire could do to countless lives, then they don't stand a chance unless some sort of miracle could come their way.

"We'd best head back to Altair, on the double!" Minwu ordered strongly.

"All those people…I don't want to think about what happened to them during this horrible attack!" Maria's voice was shaky from trauma.

Immediately, everyone retreated back into the tunnels and followed another route back to Bafsk so they can make a run back to Altair; but not without picking up a couple things along the way.

"Hey, those guys left behind some blueprints," Nikolas noticed as he picked up the papers, "And this little scroll looks like some kind of pass onto the Dreadnought."

"We'd better take them with us. Princess Hilda will need to see these papers," Firion suggested, his voice still bearing bitterness.

"Hurry…Return to Altair," Guy urged them, "Princess…White witch…maybe in danger!"

Minwu couldn't agree more on that. "You're right. If anything happens to my sister…"

The white wizard couldn't say anything else, but the tense frown on his face was a strong warning that he was definitely worried for his younger sister's safety. It's one thing to worry about the princess's well-being, but Mingzhu's life was more on a personal level.

Everyone booked it out of the tunnels to find themselves back in the streets of Bafsk; after that, the party hurried to their chocobos and began riding off back to the town of Altair at full haste, not wanting to waste any precious seconds. Along the way, though, they could see just how much destruction the warship has caused to other unfortunate towns that got caught by the powerful firearms used against the defenseless homes and shops of the relatively innocent towns; it was hard for them to imagine the possible number of casualties that were caused by such mass attacks against the world. It certainly brought one difficult question on their minds as they saw the horrific sights: how far was the empire willing to go just to control the world, and to what gain?

* * *

As satisfactory as it was that the Dreadnought was able to launch against the rebellion that has been bothering the emperor, that wasn't the major thing on Tristan's mind. His thoughts kept gravitating back to that moment when he finally saw Telma for the first time. He had anticipated the opportunity to have her back, but instead of a warm reception, she demanded him to leave her be. Why was that?

_Perhaps Leon was right about her after all…she wouldn't be able to recognize me in her current state_, Tristan thought, _but then why did she attack me like that? And for that matter, what was that boy doing with her?_

"After two years of dreading her fate and fearing for her life, this is what I am rewarded with? A hatred that I cannot understand," Tristan questioned aloud, "As if having my daughter behave so rebelliously years before wasn't troublesome enough… His Majesty will not be pleased to know what happened in Bafsk."

Leon heard this, and turned to him. "I always knew about her amnesia, but that was rather unexpected. But then again, I had a feeling things wouldn't go so well."

"Either way, I know that Telma is alive. I just need to inform his Majesty about this, and find out what can be done to rectify that blunder I just did," Tristan said as he clenched his fists angrily. "I don't want her associating herself with those treacherous snakes that call themselves rebels, and certainly not with that boy who got in the way."

Though Leon had the feeling that the old general might develop a strong loathing for someone who he believes is an obstacle, he was quite sure that taking Telma would not be a simple task. He suspected that the rebels have her under their protection and, for all he knew, someone might've learned about her and had someone keep her under watch for one reason or another.

But how would the rebels have known about her? The only way that would've been possible is if someone among the rebellion – the princess, maybe, or those who are close to her – have somehow learned about it from Firion and the others, and then chose to have her kept with the group she's most familiar with. Then again, the only way any of those he used to know – either Firion or Maria – would've told them everything was if something gave away her position and her problems. Perhaps they were forced to confess, and now Telma had to be kept under constant watch afterwards so that no one can try and capture her? That just might be. How else would that explain the defense of his old family and the two new faces he never knew?

…Still, it internally shocked Leon to find that his sister, Maria, and Firion and Telma and Guy were alive after the hellish attack they experienced. How was it possible for them to live after what happened? Leon was barely lucky to have been alive when he was taken to Palamecia, but even then, he had to deal with being treated as a lowly maggot before Tristan confronted him and recruited him under the orders of the emperor. For him, he didn't see any other way to keep himself alive; it was a necessary evil he had to dive right into.

Given what he's experienced, it made him wonder if there is any way he can convince at least one of them to give up on the foolish rebellion. He had his doubts that Firion and Guy would want to hear him out; that left either Telma or his sister. Surely, one of them would be willing to hear him out, perhaps consider the futility of siding with the Wild Rose…If only…

"Bah! What's an old man like you care about one little girl? She's with those measly little worms, so she should be called a worm as well!"

The instant Leon heard Borghen's rather reckless insult; he turned and was about to warn him not to speak so rudely while the general is around. But apparently, Tristan instantly grew angry at the oaf, grabbed him by his neck, and was just about ready to strangle him if he dared to say another word in his presence; not to mention, it was quite unnerving to see how an old man like him was able to lift the fat pig so easily without too much trouble.

"Don't talk about my daughter that way!" the general growled furiously, "Compared to pigs like you and the monsters I've seen in Palamecia, she is the only true angel in this world."

Borghen, realizing he was on the verge of death, pleaded pathetically, "P…Please, General! I didn't know any better! I'm sorry! I-I…I won't insult her again! I'll gladly hate the rebels any day, but I promise I won't say anything rude about your daughter again! Honest!"

Tristan lowered Borghen to his level and glared at him for a moment. "You'd better not, Borghen. Because if you say one more heartless word against her, you will have to answer to Emperor Mateus about every word you spilled out of your disgusting tongue."

As soon as a nod of understanding was given from the frightened buffoon, the general lowered him down harshly before leaving him to catch his breath from the near-strangulation that he had experienced.

Leon couldn't help staring wide-eyed at just how hard and cruel his own mentor could get at anyone below him. Though, if that was what it took to keep anyone under their command in place, he shouldn't find that too farfetched. It made him convinced that he'd better be careful himself, unless he wanted to die at the general's – or the emperor's – hands.

Tristan let out a deep breath before turning his attention to Leon. "Sorry about that, my boy. It happens to me sometimes. You've no idea how difficult it is to make sure one knows their place…"

"I never thought you'd be that sensitive about any offense on your own child," Leon admitted, a little rattled. "My late father was hardly ever like that with us…"

"Well, when you've been in the service of the royal family as long as I have, then you'd be used to having to be extremely harsh on those under your command," Tristan explained, "But it makes no difference now. We've come this far on the emperor's behalf. As soon as we're done here, we'll have to report to his Majesty about the rebels that we had encountered."

One thing still bothered Leon, though, particularly with something he had said moments ago: he said that his daughter was an angel compared to other people he had known. What did he mean by that?

"General…" Leon hesitated. "Why do you call your daughter an angel?"

The veteran knight turned to him in confusion. "What brought up that question?"

"I don't know…I guess…" But then, he changed his mind so as to find a second opinion later. "Never mind what I asked. It was a rather trivial question anyway."


	15. Chapter 15: Relaying Complications

**I took way too long getting another chapter up... This is what I get for getting caught up in other creative affairs and letting the holidays get the better of me.**

**Anyway, all hell has been inflicted on the rebels, and things are gonna get more interesting as we keep going. I'm probably gonna have so much fun trying to weave my way through this and reaching yet another tragedy in the process (those who've played FF2 will probably know where the heck I'm going with this).**

**If anyone's enjoying this, let me what you think about this. Bear in mind, this is my first Final Fantasy fanfic (yeah, FF2 is my first fic and not FF1 or 7, how about that?), so please be constructive about it.**

**Without further ado, hope you enjoy!**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed here.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Relaying Complications

Much to their greatest horror, by the time they had returned to Altair despite their efforts to hurry, they found that they were too late and the Empire had already devastated their only safe refuge in the midst of war. Many of the homes and shops had been either burned to a degree or were completely decimated beyond recognition; the smell of burned flesh and crisp tinder lingered around in the air, almost enough to be nauseating to the faint of heart. Numerous human lives also suffered under the fury of the Dreadnought, with many innocent civilians and rebels either suffering from serious wounds from the attack or were dead before any help could be reached out to them; there was no knowing how many lives were lost on the day the warship launched into the sky and continued the massacre in place of the vile soldiers that destroyed their old kingdom.

"My gods…This is too terrible! All these people…What did we do to deserve this?!" Maria gasped in pure horror.

"Is this what the Empire wants to do with us? Will their atrocities never cease?" Firion questioned, his blood boiling slowly in anger at the slaughter.

"Given what you've been able to see thus far, you should know by now just how heartless these guys can really be," Nikolas answered bitterly, "They've always been that way ever since the royal family dabbled into darker magic that should've never been trifled with, and even with what advancements they make, they'll use it for bloodshed without a guilty conscience burdening their twisted minds."

Minwu didn't make any comments as he dismounted in haste whist searching among the panicked crowds for any sign of his sister, hoping that nothing tragic happened to her when the Dreadnought attacked. Everyone else followed suit and helped search around the place for any survivors.

Telma, however, took longer than the both of them because even after they've returned, she was still shaken from the experience that occurred in Bafsk. She couldn't understand all the things that she had heard when they were intercepted by the Dark Knight and Tristan, let alone what manner of absurdity was coming out of the mouth of the old warrior. She couldn't understand why the general kept insisting that she was his daughter and wanted her to come along with him to Palamecia; all she knew was that something about him just brought forth a powerful anger and repulsion in her that felt eerily familiar to her…but what? Was it not her first time feeling a fierce hatred for someone?

But there was one thing that kept creeping into her mind even with all those questions she already had: Tristan mentioned someone under the name of Mateus. She wasn't sure what it is, but she kept getting that nagging feeling that this was something she should know about. Then again, there was mention of an emperor commencing the war, and Tristan's way of speaking the name is almost as though he already knows about it for as long as he could remember. So, in her mind, what's the connection? Did she miss something in all of this?

"Telma, what's holding you up? We have to find Mingzhu and Princess Hilda!"

Quickly, she snapped out of it to find that the rest of the party had already gone far ahead of her with Maria waving out to her as though she were telling her to keep up; a bit mortified at her distraction, Telma hurried on over while trying to ignore the horrors around her. Any questions she has will have to wait for a bit, but she knew that she'll a target for questioning sooner or later…

* * *

On Minwu's part, although he was normally not the type of person to let his personal fears get the best of him, was deathly afraid for the safety of his only family after all that he had seen upon returning to Altair. He knew that what happened was cruel and heartless on a grander scale than they could ever imagine, but this was almost proving to be too much for him. If anything happened to his sister, he'd never forgive himself for allowing any harm to come to her…

But then, he heard the familiar female voice giving out orders to anyone who could hear her – mostly the basic rescue orders and calling for additional healers – and looked afar to find Mingzhu struggling to keep the traumatic chaos from getting out of hand.

Relief flooded his inner being as he hurried past the rushing rebel comrades and the elders who have come to provide any help they can, and when his own sibling least expected it, he embraced her tightly as though he was so relieved to find her alive.

"Thank the gods you're alright, Mingzhu! I feared the worst after seeing how much destruction the Dreadnought caused on our way here," Minwu exclaimed in relief.

"Glad to know you're worried, dear brother. But you wouldn't believe what happened here while you were away," Mingzhu replied while reciprocating the hug she was given, "When the Dreadnought approached across the sky, the people were in a huge state of panic. And just when we were about to get out there and get everyone out of the line of fire, the most I could recall were explosions and fire raging all around! I swear, it all happened so quickly that we were practically sitting ducks out in the open!"

"Is the princess safe?" Minwu had to ask to make sure.

"Yeah, she's alright. She was able to hide herself inside the basement throughout all of this, though it was hard to move the king to safety because of the assault from above," Mingzhu answered, "Unfortunately, the casualties around here might end up worsening depending on how bad the damage around here is…"

Suddenly, one of the soldiers came over to speak. "Lady Mingzhu, the princess has heard about their return and would like to speak with all of you right away."

"Alright, we'll be there in a short. See if someone can keep healing while I'm away," Mingzhu ordered.

As soon as the soldier was gone, Minwu turned back to the group. "We'd better hurry. We have to provide any information we've gathered if we're to determine what to do from here."

Firion nodded in agreement, albeit grimly. "Yeah…though, I have a feeling that Hilda might have more surprises in store with what we've encountered."

"Tell princess…about Tristan. He mentioned Telma," Guy added.

This caught Mingzhu's attention, making her turn to her brother. "So…I take it you met that old knight recently?"

"Yeah, we met that old creep, alright. Not to mention that little pig called Borghen, who I swear belong to a butcher's shop than anything else," Nikolas answered for them, "You wouldn't believe what happened at that moment…"

"If we are to formulate another strategy to turn the tides against Palamecia, we need to gather together and discuss the matter at once," Minwu ordered as he took the lead into the rebels' hideaway.

* * *

Inside the base, the situation was no different than outside in the devastated town; there were plenty of wooden splinters everywhere and scorches lingering around the holes where the explosions had occurred, and many more soldiers and recruits were either frantically hurrying to help everyone or were experiencing the most agonizing pain to date. The scent of burnt skin and the sight of the wounds sustained by many was a nauseating sight to see, more so depending on the extent of the conditions of the survivors. If that wasn't unsettling enough, even the entire inside of the base of operations suffered from various extents of damage ranging from burns and broken furniture to splinters scattered across who knows where.

This was especially true when the party found the princess among the active healers, trying her very best to provide emotional support for her comrades while struggling not to lose her composure in the midst of the turmoil surrounding her. For the younger rebels, it was a wonder as to how the princess was able to deal with all of this despite the horrors that occurred back in Fynn and even now, with all the nightmares of war going on around her.

When she looked up to see them again, relief and sadness emerged simultaneously on Hilda's face as she invited them over to speak with her.

"Thank the gods you've all returned alive. It gladdens me that none of you were killed on your way back, but…" Her face changed to a pained frown, her grief evident. "…To think that we have failed to destroy the Dreadnought, and had to suffer the consequences for it. And all those people and towns that suffered with us…I dread to think of how many more people the emperor is willing to slaughter for his own gains."

Minwu gave a bow before he made his report. "Princess, I humbly agree that it is shameful we had failed. However, we were able to see the faces of our enemies for the first time. The traitor that Mingzhu mentioned was undoubtedly working with them, but it is the presence of the Dark Knight and General Tristan that gives us more reason to work harder to reach for the victory we seek."

Mingzhu turned to the party in shock. "You guys encountered the Dark Knight as well? What happened in Bafsk? Tell me he didn't try to kidnap Telma!"

Maria shook her head. "No, he didn't get the chance to do that. But what happened back there…I honestly don't understand it too well."

Telma certainly didn't like reliving that scenario. "That crazy old man…he thinks I'm his daughter. He's a madman! What was he thinking, acting like a love-deprived freak?! It disgusts me, and I don't know why!"

"Telma grew angry. She…hate him," Guy pointed out, "Telma try to attack him. Guy… don't understand why."

"I don't understand it either, but I know one thing for sure: there is something within that confrontation that might clue us in as to another connection," Firion agreed, "What we were able to acquire from it might help us understand more on what we're dealing with."

Although it was rather out of place considering what their current situation was right at the moment, it was quickly noticed that the princess had a suspicion that what transpired earlier might have something going on at a personal level. Then again, it was agreed that no stone should go unturned on anything – even one of their own – it was best to delve into the matter along with the rest.

"Tell me what happened in Bafsk. I must know what you learned and what you have found there," Hilda insisted. "Do not leave a single detail out, please."

Since Telma was not too eager to speak of it, Firion explained everything on her behalf. "When we were intercepted, we undoubtedly encountered the Dark Knight and General Tristan. In the case of the latter, though, he didn't seem too anxious to see us – that is, until he shifted his attention to Telma. He kept calling her his daughter, and had intents on taking her home, wherever that might be." He paused a moment, recalling the negative reaction his friend gave off. "Needless to say…she didn't take seeing him too well. In fact, she actually attacked him as though he were an intruder on her life!"

The princess turned toward the tense mage. "Is this true, Telma? Did he say that you were his daughter? What else did he say?"

Though she was hesitant at first, Telma filled in the rest of the incident. "It's true. That old man…he did insist that I was his lost child, and said he wanted to bring me back to Palamecia, whatever that is. Not to mention, he mentioned someone called Mateus as though he knows that person!" Her hands tightened against her arms. "It sickens me…and frightens me…I hate that! I have gone through two years without knowing anything of myself except my name, and then one after another I had to hear rambles about a missing girl and about an emperor who is instigating this war I don't understand about and a madman who is hell-bent on finding his only remaining kin at any cost! Can someone explain to me what the meaning of this is?! What is Palamecia supposed to be? What does that crazy general have to do with me? And who is this Mateus the general was talking about?!"

Everyone could easily see how increasingly aggravated Telma was becoming after all that has happened back in Bafsk, and it hurt her close friends that she was going through this. Even the princess, oddly enough, caught on that now was not the best time to pry any deeper to the situation than they already have. Considering where they are at right now, it would be in their best interest to try and focus on other matters before moving further into personal matters and resolving any issues that come with it.

"…Perhaps we should save any clarifications for later. We have other matters to concern ourselves with," Hilda suggested, "About the Dreadnought…do we have anything that could help us turn the tide?"

Surprisingly, it was Nikolas's turn to present something. "We've got something that might give us an idea as to how the hunk of junk works from inside and out."

He handed the blueprints over to the princess so that she could take a look at the paper and analyze the printing of the plans for the aircraft. It was easily detected that she was intrigued and repulsed at the designs of the infernal machine consisted of, more so considering that she had limited knowledge on airships and complicated machinery. As soon as she was done, she handed the blueprints back to the party.

"I see that a lot of careful planning was executed in the creation of this monstrosity…It's no wonder Palamecia was able to get the upper hand this time around," the princess admitted, "But even with all that at their fingertips, that doesn't necessarily mean it is invincible. Until we have another plan formulated to put an end to the Dreadnought for good, we will have to prepare for the possibility of another assault from that thing. If there is anything you can do to help us here for the moment, I'd appreciate any contribution until then."

"I'm gonna need extra hands with taking care of the wounded, that's for sure," Mingzhu brought up. "All of our healers are practically scattered all over the place, so if anyone knows something about medicine or a little white magic, I'd be in a much better mood."

"I couldn't agree more, my sister. We'll do what we can to help here for the time being," Minwu agreed. He turned to the others. "If any of you are willing to offer a hand, it'd be very appreciative."

"We don't have any experience on medical matters," Firion confessed, "but we'll do what we can to help. Besides, I think Telma needs a distraction."

"Yeah, we all need that once in a while," the female white mage agreed as she led the party.

However, while no one else was watching, Minwu approached Nikolas with a warning gaze that indicated there will some questioning to be done later down the line.

"As soon as things have calmed down, we will need what information you have on Palamecia if we're to pull through this war," the white mage warned.

Nikolas knew where that was going. "I had a suspicion you'd say that…"

* * *

"I don't understand this, your Majesty. I know how brilliantly cunning you are and I have no doubt that you have many other plans to deal with the foolish resistance, but it doesn't change the fact that the rebels are still keeping her under their watch."

After successfully bombarding and crippling the resisting forces as well as ruining other towns surrounding the meek town of Altair, Tristan returned to Palamecia with Leon to report the situation to the emperor on the expedition form the front. Although the malevolent ruler was pleased to know that the rebels didn't see their success coming, the old general was still troubled by the fact that he was unable to acquire what he desired because of the strangers with her.

Mateus, though, knew exactly what the general was talking about. "Come now, General. Don't tell me that you are losing confidence in my tactics now. As you have said in your own words, you have never doubted my cunning all these years. What is that hinders you, even after all you had said?"

Leon, not wanting his superior to have trouble explaining himself, spoke on his behalf. "What your general meant to say was that despite our victory, he still has not been able to take back what was rightfully his. Though he was able to meet Telma face-to-face, he didn't expect…a negative reception. When she saw him, she got…angry, to the point of violent. We didn't expect that to happen during our encounter."

But the emperor had a suspicion about it. "And yet, you had the utmost generosity to confess to Tristan about your experience with the Telma you knew. As you told him, she had amnesia. How should she know what she forgot?"

That felt like a knife twisted in his wound for Leon, since it was technically his fault that Tristan has more information on the whereabouts of Telma as well as what state she was in when she was found. He spilled out a carefully guarded secret, and because of this, he had to help his general fulfill his personal mission alongside the success of the conquest of the world beyond that of the Palamecia Empire. With this in mind, he might as well be saying that he had turned his back on all that he knew well and, worse off, he betrayed the concealed troubles of a person he was sworn with his family and friends to protect and support as much as he could. And, boy, the emperor made sure that he didn't forget the atrocities that he had committed thus far for his own sake.

_There's no way to remedy this betrayal, that's for sure_, he thought intensely. Leon squeezed his eyes tightly in dread of a future confrontation. _If anyone figures out her secret is betrayed, there's no doubt that there will be hell to pay, and I'm sure that I'll be the one who suffers the consequences._

"In any case, with the foolish rebels hindered significantly and the princess forced to regroup her pathetic forces, we have plenty of time to proceed with our work," the callous ruler said dismissively, "Should there be anything that could cause problems, then we'll just have to deal with it the best way we know. After all, those worms are blind to the grander scale of all that is happening around them."

"I don't doubt that, my lord. Whatever plan you have for the world will inevitably unfold as we progress with the war," Tristan agreed solemnly. But his mind shifted elsewhere after that. "But even so…the only doubt I have on my mind is how you intend to help me regarding Telma. You know as well as I do that she is under the influence of amnesia, and you had reason to believe that the rebels are poisoning her mind into thinking I was an enemy to their kingdom. You've told me so on that. How can I possibly get her back if she doesn't have those memories return to her?"

"I've told you that retrieving her won't be too complicated with the right methods, did I not, General?" Mateus questioned, quickly catching on that there was skepticism.

"But she doesn't remember anything!" Tristan emphasized impatiently.

Leon could only watch as the emperor stood up from his throne and forcefully yanked Tristan closer to him, leaving the old knight unable to do anything as he dreaded what was coming to him. Instead of violently reacting, though, he merely used his available hand to force the general to look him in the eye and hear what he had to say.

"Patience, Tristan, patience. Your daughter will remember in time," Mateus insisted in an icy tone of voice, before his voice changed to a calm and knowing tone. "There is no need to be hasty about it. She only needs a trail of crumbs to follow until she remembers who she was and where she belongs. The more clues she picks up, the more she recalls of her past. The more she remembers, the more vulnerable she becomes. Once it's confirmed her recovery is progressing, then you are free to use any means necessary to accomplish your personal objective."

Even under the black helmet, Leon could easily observe the rapid changes in expression on his military superior's face; at first there were strong implications of doubt and anxiety which didn't want to believe what he was hearing, but then shifted quickly from impatience to confusion, uncertainty, but then drastically changed to contemplation and suspicion until his brows raised to indicate a spark of understanding awareness surfacing within his mind. Though he wasn't too sure what the general could be thinking about, he was quite certain that something his monarch had told him made him realize what hints he was giving away that a more intelligent man could figure out more effectively. It made Leon all the more curious as to what it was he was missing in the midst of this discussion, or if there is a clue as to where the subject was going regarding the general's agenda.

But then, in that moment, Tristan figured out where the hints were going. "…Wait a minute. The blueprints…You wanted them to find the blueprints because it would let her see them! It was meant to be a clue to jog her memory, wasn't it?"

A small, triumphant smirk crossed the emperor's face once the general spilled it out, like he was waiting for the answer from the very beginning.

"Brilliant. Now you've figured it out, General. You have nothing to worry about for the time being," Mateus said nonchalantly. He then shifted to other matters at hand. "Now then, let's see if we can make preparations for any other annoying resistance those rebellious maggots will try to pull against us. Perhaps drastic measures will have to be taken…"

* * *

Telma couldn't help feeling very grateful for the long overdue rest after the difficult toil of helping all the civilians and rebel comrades in Altair. By the time they had nearly completed the exhausting duty of helping everywhere they could with healing survivors or laying the unlucky to rest, it was getting rather late, and some of those aiding in the job – including herself and Maria – were asked to try and get as much rest as possible because there was no knowing how long it would take. Though, she wasn't sure about leaving Firion on his own with Guy, but under the insistence of Minwu, it was promised that he wouldn't be long since they had other matters to deal with in the morning; also, their roguish friend made a promise that he would provide whatever knowledge he had on their enemy in the past, so it was hard to say no to that.

However, this gave her some time to think about the events that transpired in Bafsk – as much as she didn't really want to. Too much happened while they were there, and it was too difficult for Telma to comprehend why she had to get so much attention from a person who clearly doesn't seem to be mentally stable enough to know the reality of the situation. It was one thing when she overheard that creepy old man – Tristan, that's what she recalled he was referred to – was desperate to find something missing in his life, but when she heard him call her his daughter and spoke to her with her name as though he knew about it too well, it bothered her to no end – to the point where something about the way he talked to her made her angry, even hateful at the man for intruding on her life. This made her dread how much more trouble will come their way now that she had been seen among other people, and what will happen to her from there.

If that wasn't bad enough, Telma couldn't help questioning how on earth Tristan had a vague idea of the fact she had amnesia. Sure, nobody had the slightest idea regarding Leon's fate – such as whether or not he was alive or if he had been killed (although with the latter, his body would've been left somewhere to rot, and that would've been repulsive) – and he hasn't been found as of yet, but that question about his whereabouts was still there. Not to mention, he was one of few people besides Firion and the rest of the adoptive family who knew about Telma and of her problems with memory loss, so how could any enemy get anything like that out of him? If he was alive and someone did force information out of him, would that explain why Tristan mentioned it so brazenly before them in their first meeting with the passageway? There's no way she would know about that herself…

All those thoughts running through her mind only served to make Telma collapse onto the bed in utter irritation at everything that happened thus far.

"Damn it! Why can't I understand any of this?" she cursed in frustration, "It was hard enough having to get involved in matters that I don't understand too well, but what happened now? Why did it have to get so complicated?"

"Believe me, Telma; I am just as confounded about all of this as you are."

Telma turned to find that Firion had just entered the room, and she could easily tell that he has seen enough hell on earth as it was; but given what all of them have seen - and will most likely continue to see further on down the line – within the world, it wasn't hard to see how badly this was affecting even her close friends. But she could see within Firion's eyes that he is still reeling in disconcertion on the horrific scenes resulting in the war instigated by a powerful kingdom that may be more dangerous than they had initially thought; it felt like she was looking into a broken mirror that distorted the world they used to be able to see years ago.

"I take it things have slowed down out there?" Telma asked.

Firion nodded. "For the moment…But I'm sure it will take a lot more time to recover from the nightmare we've been through."

It was easy to understand where this was going: war and the destruction it causes can scar many lives that survive the ordeal. The hard part was comprehending why this war is going on in the first place, and what purpose the enemy had to making other kingdoms and villages suffer under their bloodthirsty fists.

Even so, it hurt Telma in more ways than one. "I just hate this…I hate all the violence that's happening out there. What did everyone do to deserve this oppression? It's hard enough to wrap my head around the fact that a place I don't recall anything about was making aggressive advances against all other regions within the world, but then we had to deal with the madmen that are involved with whoever is pulling the strings and have to unveil things within our lives that weren't supposed to get out too much! This is just too much to handle, especially after all of the hellish things that we went through."

"I know it's all very difficult to take in and endure, and if I was to be honest, I wish it were much simpler to understand," Firion admitted, "But that doesn't mean we should let the horror we've experienced now stop us from finding a way to put an end to the wrongs that have been committed. We may have been badly hindered by the attack the Dreadnought caused, but with the blueprint and the pass we found within the path to the construction site, we might have a chance to find a solution to stop that mechanical monstrosity from doing causing any more destruction."

"Maybe so…But it doesn't change the fact that there's more to these villains than we initially thought," Telma said, her thoughts shifting into sensitive territory. "There's no knowing when we'll see them again."

To her surprise, she felt her friend's arms wrap around her and hold her gently, as though to remind her that she's not the only person who's worried about what more dangers will lie ahead of them; it was rather comforting despite the dark shadow cast over everyone at the moment.

"It'll be alright, Telma. We just need to take this one step at a time. We may not understand what Tristan's agenda is and what he knows and we may not understand what we've heard right now, but that doesn't make any difference," Firion reassured her, "We only need to hope to the gods that whatever truth there might be and whatever comes our way to oppose us, we will find a way to deal with it when the need arises…"


	16. Chapter 16: Where to Go from There

**Just a little reprieve before the big stuff happens.**

**We get to learn about the hell Nikolas once went through in Palamecia, get a little peek into a piece of Tristan's past, and Telma recovers another lost fragmented memory. Because why not?**

**Anyways, it was no ballpark writing this, but it was worth it, I'd say.**

**Y'know, now that I think about it, since I've pretty much set up Telma with Firion, if anyone has any ideas on what I could do with the other characters and who to matchmake with, then I'd love to hear about it. But bear in mind, I've already gotten Nikolas set up with a pirate to come in the near future.**

**If someone has a suggestion for relations or ideas for what could up the ante in the story, please share. I might use it, I might not, never know.**

**With further ado, enjoy!**

**I own nothing of FF2 except my OCs.**

**Read, leave me a review, but no flames allowed.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Where to Go From There

Despite the reemergence of a new morning, the day was much bleaker than it once was before the Dreadnought struck terror upon the entire country; it was almost as though the heavens were still mourning over the suffering of mankind down below, what with the clouds gathered together in somber silence. Inside the rebel hideout, it was no different than the world outside; there was word that things were not as well from within among the ranks of those who joined the rebellion. With the number of casualties – ranging from the wounded to the killed – staggering between rising or not, there was no knowing how many more lives would be lost after the horror that is the Dreadnought.

In the meeting room, the princess gathered her closest mages and the new recruits to discuss over everything that had happened, inspect the blueprints that had bene brought back from Bafsk and to find out what their newest member, Nikolas, had to offer regarding any knowledge of the Empire since he often made mention of it ever since being involved with Firion and the rest of the party.

"Wow, I gotta hand it to the royal family right here: they sure know how to assemble a well-laid plan for their machines," Mingzhu admitted as she examined the papers, "especially one as big and destructive as the Dreadnought. Clearly someone was ahead of his time designing such a large airship." But then she frowned bitterly. "If only it wasn't used to cause so much bloodshed, I would've loved to know how it could benefit the world…"

"I can hardly make heads or tails on how this schematic is supposed to work," Maria confessed as she scratched her head in confusion.

Hilda rubbed her chin in thought at the layout of the plans before she turned to the thief for an answer. "Tell me, Sir Nikolas, have you ever seen an airship throughout your life?"

Nikolas shook his head. "Not all that much. Any I do spot are few and far between, and I'm pretty sure that inventive engineers are real hard to come across. In any case, I was never a fan of flying machines to begin with…the thought of even riding on one makes me nauseous."

Telma studied the blueprints intently as though she was actually trying to understand what the schematic was supposed to explain, almost like a puzzle was being presented to her and she had to try and solve it if she wanted something good out of it. She couldn't help getting the feeling that she had seen something like this before, like she knew someone had been working on this for quite some time…but she couldn't put her finger on where this happened, or who was working on it for that matter. Maybe if she looked at it another time, perhaps she might be able to pull something out from the dark recesses of her mind…maybe she might be able to remember a few more things…

"How are we supposed to be able to destroy such an enormous machine," Firion couldn't help questioning, "if we don't have any means to do so? Is there anything that could help us on that matter?"

"Good question there, young man. I have no clue," Mingzhu answered.

Before any possible suggestions could be brought up, one of the rebel soldiers arrived in the briefing room and whispered something to the princess; but nobody could hear what was being addressed since the voice was spoken so softly that any words were inaudible. However, after a few moments, Princess Hilda had a worried look on her face suddenly show itself, which remained even after the soldier started to take his leave to attend to other matters.

Minwu caught wind of this and asked her quietly, "Is something the matter, Princess?"

The princess shook her head sadly as she whispered softly, "Minwu…it's my father…He's taken a turn for the worse."

But this tidbit of news didn't slip from Telma's ears. "What's going on?"

Hilda was struggling to keep herself from crying as she spilled it out. "I apologize, but…it seems the shock of what happened yesterday after the attack by the Dreadnought has affected my father's conditions. He knows…he knows that his end is near."

Mingzhu turned pale at this. "…I should've known the king was getting worse."

"Is there nothing you can do, Minwu?" Maria asked in worry toward the white wizard.

But Minwu shook his head slowly. "All those who live must someday die. It is our fate."

"Yeah, but it's still our job to ease the sufferings of others, isn't it?" his sister reminded him, "You've told me that a lot, I remember."

"But that doesn't change the fact that Empire won't care how much suffering they inflict so long as its emperor gets his way," Nikolas commented darkly.

Firion turned to the thief. "Speaking of which, Nikolas, perhaps you can explain to us your experience with the enemy before you became…well, what you are, essentially. What made you hate the Empire so much? What did they do to you that made you what you are now?"

"And for that matter, did you know anyone who resided there?" Telma hoped that anything the rogue knew might help her out, too.

Knowing that there was no going back and that since the rebels want to maintain their trust with the stray that has joined their party through unusual circumstances; Nikolas took a breath as he prepared to expose the ghosts that haunted him for a long time.

"Well, then…where do I begin explaining myself?"

* * *

_"__I don't see why we have to scout outside the castle because of the sightings of an arcane mage who doesn't come from Palamecia, General."_

_A younger Tristan sighed in annoyance at his subordinate's words and shook his head. "It's precisely because of the sightings of an arcane mage not from around here that we have to find this person and bring him to the castle. If this person is powerful enough in magic as we've heard, then it could be great benefit for the Empire's might."_

_Within the lower regions of the rugged mountains, the general and his small troupe of soldiers made cautious steps across the uneasy terrain as they scouted out the lands for anything out of the ordinary by orders of the royal family. There were rumors that a spellcaster had been sighted wandering around the country, but the whereabouts of the exact location had been rather murky._

_So, since there was no one else capable of scouting out this anomaly and determining whether or not such a stranger is a threat to the Empire, the burden of finding this suspicious individual fell into the hands of the newly assigned military leader. Granted, the aging emperor was the one paranoid about the sightings and perceives a possible threat; but Tristan did recall that it was the prince himself who was interested in this mage and certainly saw potential in having a wider diversity in the army, and thus commanded his trusted man to find this person and recruit this stranger by any means necessary. That was the reason why he was sent out along with a few soldiers to perform a search of the last sighting within the mountains._

_But then, after trekking through the barren ground, Tristan was about to take a peek into one of the seemingly empty caves – only to be greeted by a small light of fire and the edge of a crystalline staff pointed warily at his throat._

_"__My, my, are all soldiers from this gloomy country paranoid enough to leave no stone unturned without thinking of the possibility of wild predators?"_

_The general was surprised to find the voice of whoever was speaking was not a man, but a woman. But it only grew when a living human being emerged from the shadows into the somewhat bright world, allowing him to realize that this truly was a female roaming about the wilds so freely._

_It was pretty clear the this peculiar lady was not of Palamecian heritage; with her sun-kissed tan skin and dark hair and eyes, and a witch's robes patterned in black and blue and decorated in exotic beads gave a strong indication of a foreigner in a far different land._

_The young general took the time to take this in before he made his deduction. "You're not from around here…are you? Am I to presume from your skin and choice of clothes that you are from Mysidia?"_

_The woman gave a light-hearted smile. "I am. And everyone I know there calls me Marta…"_

Jolting awake from his subconscious reliving an old memory, the aging general couldn't believe that his mind had to drift in the past without him knowing it. Perhaps it was one of the indications of old age creeping up on him, and part of his chronic sleeping problems; he had been known to slip into dreams of memories long passed when he does succumb to sleep.

"Gods, don't tell me I'm pushing far past my prime…" Tristan murmured to himself, rubbing his eyes to force himself awake.

"General, are you awake?"

Recognizing that it was Leon speaking to him from behind, Tristan straightened his posture and stood up from his desk – obviously not wanting to appear too exhausted as he already was prior in Bafsk during the construction of the Dreadnought – to find out what his student and follower had to report to him. But judging from the not-so-pleased look on his face, it was pretty clear that what news he was about to receive was about to get rather frustrating.

"Is there something wrong, Leon?" he asked. But then, a thought crossed his mind. "Let me guess: it's concerning that pig again, isn't it?"

Leon gave a sigh, his annoyance evident. "Yes…it is, General. I was informed by one of your men that Borghen was given an assignment on behalf of the emperor, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. Nobody in this godforsaken castle could find him anywhere, and no one knows what that fat man is doing with himself."

After hearing all of this, Tristan couldn't help pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation at the notion of Borghen failing to keep up with the expectations of Palamecia's politics and military affairs. He always knew that the pig was trouble, but it didn't help in the slightest that he had to put up with a greedy noble who once came from an enemy kingdom. Why his superior allowed such a hideous monster among them was beyond him, but if there was one thing he couldn't stand about the morbidly fat and pompous buffoon, it's the fact that his arrogance, cowardice, and his less than impressive feats have made him no better than the already sinful residents of the dark kingdom he had lived in as long as he could remember. Truth be told, he would've loved to be rid of the nuisance himself, but perhaps he would've loved it better if someone else killed him off, maybe due to an 'unfortunate accident' or as a 'casualty of war', if that made any sense.

Leon, noticing the lack of response, raised a puzzled brow. "Did you hear me, sir?"

"Yes, yes, I heard you, Leon…" Tristan shook his in dismay. "I had a suspicion that the imbecile would be shirking his duties again. If I know him, he would probably be seeking places to either take advantage of the carnal pleasures or to indulge in the vilest possible sins without restraint." He shook his head. "Here's my order: send word to track down Borghen and drag him back to the castle. Use force if you have to, but remind him of the consequences of shirking his duties to the emperor."

His pupil bowed respectfully. "I'll take care of it right away, General."

* * *

"Back in my teen years, I was nothing more than a petty, easily ignored thief. Just a not-too-special common criminal trying my hardest to survive in a hive full of sinners and corrupted citizens," Nikolas explained. After taking a moment to prepare to reveal his darkest secrets to the rebels, he started to confess what he had experienced in the past and what evils he had seen within Palamecia. "I was only doing everything that I could just to survive the hostile world that is the empire of Palamecia and the inhabitants lurking within it, doing whatever it took and using any means necessary just to be able to live another day. I was pretty successful on my own, certainly. But then, there came a point where all of my efforts to survive completely backfired when I raided one of the markets for food, and I was inevitably caught by the elite guards and then dragged to the castle dungeon without any good explanation of what my crimes are or being given any proper charges. Admittedly, after all of that, I don't recall how long I've been locked away in that dank, filthy cell below the eyes of the residents above. All I knew was that I was about to go through hell on earth under the watchful eyes of those sadistic bastards who ran the dungeons, and any chances of escape or resistance was practically slim to none."

"What did they do to you?" Maria asked, shivering in dread at the story. "Did your captors…do something terrible to you?"

Nikolas shut his eye tight intensely. "…Throughout my days in that hellish nightmare, all I've ever gone through was torture in numerous ways. Whiplashing, burning with a rod, beating until bruised or bleeding – practically, they'll use anything that those monsters are willing to do to either break or kill off their prisoners. Believe me, there have been times where I wished I could just die, if only to be freed from all the torments the wardens would do to me." He paused. "But on one day, one warden was preforming the torturing process like every other had done previously. Only on his part, he took more pleasure in burning me with a heated iron rod. It was at that point that one incident changed my chances at finding an escape…all because of the harm caused to a child."

"You mentioned about that, if I recall right," Telma remembered back when he spoke tidbits of his business. "But I don't think you actually went into detail about it."

"Yeah, I did do that. But what I didn't do was get into specifics," Nikolas confessed. "Anyways, on that day, the warden in charge of me was using his trademark method of torture, including the pain of destroying my left eye through the use of the hot iron rod, when one unforeseen event occurred that changed my chances at survival." He drew a breath to prepare for what he had to tell. "In the process of the session, the first thing I could remember was the sound of a child demanding for the tortures to stop. I couldn't see too much since my back was against the people involved, but…from the corner of my intact eye, I was able to see a little girl running up and putting her hand out to stop the warden from using the rod again. But then…by the gods…I can still remember the sound of the searing burn against tender skin and the piercing cries coming from her." Tears started to slip from his closed eye. "I don't know what went on afterwards, but the most I could hear was the voice of a young man, clearly angry at the perpetrator for the harm against the child and then several forms of movement coming and going – the first being the adult and child leaving the dungeon, and then the clanks of armored boots as they dragged away the seized individual."

Nobody had a word to say about the horrifying details coming out of the deceptively off-beat rogue, but all of them could certainly sense how much hellish suffering he went through just through his past life alone; in a way, by hearing his side of the story, it was more feasible to know about the corruption of the Empire first-hand through the eyes and ears of someone who has once lived there and endured through it through cunning and willpower alone.

"It might sound rather absurd, but because of that incident, I somehow was able to find my only chance at escape. I didn't waste any precious minutes, and just – against my excruciating pain inflicted by every tool for torture, the hellish stinging of the injury where my left eye used to be, the weakness of my body, and every possible instability that could very well try to throw my perception off-balance – slipped out of the castle without a single soldier noticing I had disappeared without a trace. I don't really remember what happened to me afterwards, but I can mostly say that I felt so much relief when I regained full consciousness away from the wretched hive that is Palamecia…"

That was when Nikolas stopped telling his story, obviously having enough of spilling the painful tale that he had tried so hard to forget and wanting to not look back at the hellish life again.

However, thanks to hearing what Nikolas had experienced before, it certainly did help the younger rebels understand the rogue a lot better now that they were able to find something in common in him through one similar foe. At the very least, it helped them know what's at stake with the new awareness of what they might have to expect from an enemy as ruthless and merciless as Palamecia and the people that reign the country with an iron fist. Still, just knowing how even one of their own can be treated gave the rebellion a greater reason to both fear and want to destroy this enemy that has made their march against all the kingdoms across the entire continent.

Even the princess was stunned at this. "…And we thought the invasions were remorseless and sinful enough. I cannot imagine what the empire within is like."

"If it's all the same to you, Princess, I'd rather not be there to find out," Mingzhu admitted.

"I second that. I don't even want to know how deep the evils of Palamecia really are after what Nikolas already told," Maria agreed, her already light skin turning pale from horror.

Telma didn't give any response after hearing the rogue's story or bring up any question as to what she had learned…not yet. She was far too busy taking in what she had heard, not sure what to make of it and whether or not to ask Nikolas if what he witnessed in the dungeon was much like what he had mentioned previously when they first met him on their way to Salamand. Though, now would probably not be the time to interrogate him about his memory with a crisis already on their hands.

"Well, then how should we approach confronting the Empire this time around?" Firion questioned, "We have no weapons that could possible reach the Dreadnought, much less be able to do any form of damage against it without risking even more casualties. What could possibly be able to destroy it?"

Unfortunately, at the moment, Princess Hilda was at a loss as to an answer. "If only I had an idea on what could be done…"

* * *

"You've given us quite a lot of trouble scouting out where you had been hiding your piggish face from his Majesty's eyes, Borghen. You should be fortunate that I didn't send Leon out to kill you, or we wouldn't have required your presence in the first place."

As he was saying all of that, Tristan couldn't avoid giving the cowardly Borghen a glare so dangerous that he might as well be desiring to give the fat oaf the death sentence he should have received long ago when Fynn was invaded by the inhuman army sent by the emperor. Though, it was quite satisfying enough for him to keep the pig in submission, especially since the imbecile was shaking in his boots heavily from the death glare he was being given instead of a polite welcome as the fool would've preferred.

Over to the side, Leon couldn't but feel a slight chill down his spine at watching how his mentor was able to keep a person under control without having to brandish a weapon to force submission on the subject. It made him wonder how on earth this made the veteran favorable to the emperor himself all those years before he was recruited into the army.

"Now, General, I believe you've intimidated the maggot enough," Emperor Mateus ordered from his throne. "Let's hear what he has to say of himself before we give him his mission, hm? We'll see if he's willing to cooperate this time around."

As displeased as he was at that command, Tristan relented and subsided his deadly glare from Borghen; but not without giving the shrinking coward a warning glare that clearly said 'if you come up with one more pathetic excuse, I'll kill you myself'; it was just enough to keep the subordinate from making any objections to someone who stands in a different position to him within the Empire.

Borghen, a bit dirty from being dragged across the ground and shaking endlessly from the intimidating presence of the superior powers looming around him, trembled as he faced the cold gaze of the emperor to give his answer.

"Of…of course, I'm listening r-really intently, y-your Majesty," Borghen stammered nervously, "W-What do you want me to do on behalf of your most glorious empire? Whatever you want me to do; I'll do it without fail and without question."

Leon couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief at just how weak-minded and wimpy this so-called nobleman was in contrast to them. Then again, this betrayer of his native country was facing a monarch with so much power in his hands that he could order someone's execution in a blink of an eye and a veteran warrior who has loyally served the Empire for decades and hasn't been defeated yet in a physical sense. What could Borghen possibly do when he knows that his demise could come from either one of them if he bungled in his objectives once again? He could do nothing to save himself, and the coward knew that.

"That's a sight to see. Look at you, trembling and stuttering like the coward you truly are. But it's amusing that you are trying to behave yourself since you know the fate of those who fail me miserably," the emperor scoffed dismissively. Then he shifted the topic elsewhere. "Still, since you're here, I'll just spare you the anticipation and get straight to the point: your new objective is to head to the far north – to the Snow Cavern - and retrieve a particular artifact. It's called the Goddess Bell. You are to find it and bring it back here without failure." His dark eyes narrowed harshly. "You **_do_** know what would happen if you bungle or try to walk out of your assignment, don't you?"

Borghen gulped in terror. He immediately knew that failure to succeed in any orders given out by the emperor would result in death; whether it was by executioner or by the emperor's own general is anyone's guess. Either way, he knew that he was between a rock and a hard place, so he had to at the very least try and make some effort to fulfill his orders…or else.

The coward gave an awkward bow. "Of course, your Majesty. I'll, uh…I'll succeed this time! I'll get the bell as you have commanded me to. In fact, I…I'll march out to the north and find it at once, if it'll make things easier!"

Not wanting to get into any more trouble than he already did, Borghen hastily left the throne room to gather what troops he could find and make his journey as he was ordered to, leaving only the emperor and his knights alone.

However, unbeknownst to the ugly oaf, the emperor had something else planned…

"General Tristan, you are to follow Borghen to the north," Mateus commanded. "Scout out how he handles the situation."

Tristan turned to his superior in confusion. "Your Majesty? I don't understand."

"I believe you should know as well as I do that he was a weak and pathetic worm through and through, wouldn't you say? You said so yourself when he first joined the ranks: what good is it to have someone who betrayed his kind so willingly if he only thinks for himself?" the emperor replied, "It's for that reason that I doubt he would be able to accomplish even such an important task as retrieving a Goddess Bell from its hiding place. Ergo, you are to determine whether or not he is not worth our attention."

The old general bowed in respect. "Then I shall go as you request, your Majesty. I'll act as your eyes and ears on affairs to the far north." But then something crept in his mind. "But, my lord, should I ever find the rebels there, especially that boy…"

Leon quickly figured out in his mind where the general was going with it: ever since that first encounter with the rebels directly, Tristan has developed a grudge against Firion for standing opposed to anyone approaching Telma. He knew that his former friend would be the target of vengeance in the aging knight's mind, and would inevitably be the one who his mentor would want out of the picture.

"Do whatever you see fit. If you have to kill the thorn in your side, then so be it," Mateus answered knowingly, obviously aware of his knight's seething anger.

That answered it for Leon. The general was going to seek his revenge, and nothing can be done to dissuade him.

Tristan bowed again. "Very well, then. As you wish."

Without a second look, the general turned away and left the throne room to prepare for the long journey to the northern regions, leaving Leon alone to think over what he had just listened and what he had just now learned.

It was clear to him that Tristan will stop at nothing to get what he wants, but still, he couldn't help getting that nagging feeling that capturing Telma was not going to be so simple. After all, if Firion was among the rebels and he is still bent on protecting her, chances are Maria and Guy is pretty much doing the same. He didn't care how capable the general is in combat or how much experience he has with dealing with opposition; Firion would still, in one way or another, attempt to put up a fight even if the odds of success against a seasoned warrior were slim to none. If anything, Firion would take the slim…

* * *

Even though it was already night, Telma just felt restless as she read and reread the blueprints of the Dreadnought. After their meeting had finished up, she was able to ask the princess permission to borrow the documents, hoping that by having it with her and examining it, it might be able to jog her memory, if at all. Needless to say, she was given the okay quite surprisingly, though she was sure that Mingzhu was the one who practically encouraged this because she thought that it could pull something out of the recesses of her mind.

That being said, no matter how many times she examined it, nothing was sparking any familiarity to her…that is, until something crossed her mind. Perhaps it's not the paper itself that she was supposed to examine, but the carefully coordinated designs that diligently measured every piece of the planned machinery created for its use.

Slowly, she traced her fingers across the lines of the drawings and the measurements arranged on the blueprints like she was trying to figure out what she was reading in her hands. It was rather strange to her, but it almost felt like she was pretending to do what the designer would've been doing if said individual was working on the plans, creating a work of art to be brought to life with the right tools and the correct manpower to fulfill such a creations. It made her certain that someone had done this before, but who could've been…

Suddenly, Telma felt a painful headache pounding against her mind, forcing her to drop the blueprints to keep her from reeling too much due to the unexpected pain; from there, a fragmented memory started to emerge from the depths of her clouded mind, giving her another clue into something she should've known about…

* * *

_Memory fragment: Years prior…_

_"__What exactly are you trying to draw there?"_

_Inside a large secluded library filled with various books of all shapes and widths scattered all over the place, an eight-year-old girl kept her eyes focused on a large paper laid out on a wide desk being meticulously measured by a younger man with every tool at his disposal. At that question, he moved his eyes at her direction as though he couldn't believe that someone so young wouldn't know what she was looking at just from seeing what they were doing alone; but the child didn't notice it from the get-go._

_The young teen sighed at this before he answered, "Am I to presume your father never mentioned it to you, Telma? This is supposed to be a plan for crafting what we would call an 'airship'. In other words, a machine intended to revolutionize travel across the continents, to reach towards the skies where none have ever crossed in centuries."_

_"__But I thought that's what the flying baskets do, Mateus," the child Telma commented._

_"__You're talking about the air balloon, aren't you? That was a fairy tale concerning a clever man's unorthodox method of accomplishing a supposedly impossible objective," the young Mateus replied dismissively. "Although, there is some truth to it, if someone thinks about it hard enough. Without the story of such a curious invention retold over the years, how else would man have known what the skies were like up close? There wouldn't be any ambition to follow the leader who fulfilled such a task, would there? That's something that my father," He spat at the hateful word like bitter medicine, "would never think about trying to experiment with, not even in a lifetime."_

_The little girl gave a little frown, knowing that there was tension between father and son, and that it was only a matter of time before something drastic happens to either of them._

_Without even knowing it, she couldn't help commenting. "If only I could fly on something like that, away from here…"_

_Mateus caught on where that was going. "Telma, are you implying a desire to escape? If you are, don't even try it."_

_"__No! I didn't say it that way. I just think being on a ship would be a good way to explore the world," Telma insisted, a frustrated frown forming on her face. "If…if he would just let me go just a little beyond the walls, then I'd know what's going on out there better. I can't be shut away in here forever."_

_"__I see. You mean to tell me that your father has been repeatedly cutting you off from the entire kingdom because of events of the past he hasn't let go of," the prince guessed, and was right on the ball with it, "Even after all I am trying to do to ensure that you are not weak and helpless as other women in Palamecia, he still does not understand the potential hidden within your blood. But then again, he is no expert in arcane magic, so what would he know?"_

_Telma didn't say anything more on that matter, returning her attention to the blueprint of the airship and looking at it with even more fascination and curiosity on what such a strange machine could do when successfully created. Could it really be capable of flying through the skies like the air balloon used to do all those years ago? If so, what would be like to see the skies up close for the first time?_

_Without being heard aloud, she whispered quietly, "But it would be something if I could fly anywhere…"_

* * *

By the time the flash of memory had finished, Telma realized far too late that she had dropped the blueprints because of the sudden headache that struck her. Granted, her head still hurt from recollecting a fragment of a memory, but at least she had just enough clarity to figure out what happened and reached back down to retrieve what she had dropped.

"Damn…it really hurt that time," Telma cursed quietly, "Why couldn't it be as lenient as that dream-memory I went through in Salamand?"

Nonetheless, because of that bit of memory restored, Telma had no doubt that it might make her recovery much easier, perhaps not in the long run, but certainly in the short until something completely new resurfaces. But until she can find more clues – with a little help – that can jog her mind further, she'll have to keep her mind focused on whatever the new objective might be, and – hopefully – be able to find a solution to putting a stop to the Dreadnought.


End file.
